Reborn in 1977

Chapter 417: The Exam Begins

On December 10th, after an initial screening that eliminated seventy percent of the candidates, the Jiangnan Province Unified College Entrance Examination officially began.

At the Gufeng County No. 1 Middle School exam site, all 23 candidates from Lujiawan were gathered in a corner of the playground, waiting to enter the classrooms for the exam.

They were initially selected through exams. Some participated in the veterinary training class, and later, Yang Xingxiu's girls' study group was formed by recruiting girls who had been deliberately eliminated. The oldest among them was only 18 years old, and the youngest was even more than two months away from turning 14.

Under the halo of Chen Fan's teaching, these people studied hard for a whole year, mastering all the knowledge they needed to learn, and quite a bit of knowledge outside the exams as well.

Especially in the last month, in order to provide cover for them, Chen Fan opened his teaching halo almost every day to lecture them, trying to ensure that everyone could get high scores.

In the first half of the year, these people mainly studied elementary and junior high school courses, which was a stage for consolidating basic knowledge. In the second half of the year, they focused on mathematics, physics, and chemistry, while also studying other subjects.

Therefore, unlike more than 70% of the people nationwide who applied for liberal arts, except for a few such as Zhang Cuie, Huang Ying, and Liu Dan who applied for liberal arts, all the others applied for science.

Science was more difficult, but fewer people applied, and with their learning progress, it could only be said that the difficulty was lower, making it a sure win.

On both sides of them were more than 40 educated youth from other places.

These people were mostly older, almost all around 27 or 28 years old. Some were even couples taking the exam together, vying for their lost youth.

Among so many people, more than half were not from Nanhugong Commune. They had only been studying in the Nanhugao High School review class for a while, and somehow got in touch with the Nanhugong educated youth. They found that their learning progress was much faster than their own, and some enthusiastic older brothers and sisters were willing to answer their questions, so they shamelessly clung to them, successfully joining the Nanhugong educated youth circle and becoming "one of their own."

When An Quan first learned about this, he complained to Chen Fan that people who were completely unrelated also came to take advantage.

There were only so many learning resources, and everyone was racing against time. Having to share a portion with them and take the time to answer their questions, wasn't that sacrificing oneself for others?

That's not how things are done!

But these people had thick skins (those with thin skins took the initiative to leave, or were even too embarrassed to come), and there were also many kind people among the Nanhugong educated youth. Everyone was an educated youth from another place, so they inevitably empathized with each other, and accepted them.

An Quan couldn't do anything about it.

At that time, Chen Fan replied to him, "Since you can't refuse them, then find a way to earn some interest, and don't let them take advantage for nothing. Why don't you recruit them, and make them repay a hundredfold for the advantage they take today."

An Quan thought it made sense. The advantage had already been taken, and there was nothing he could do about them, so he might as well find a way to get it back from them.

So he personally came forward, treated them with concern as an older brother, and even organized them to attend Chen Fan's lectures for the study group students. In less than two days, he won over everyone's hearts.

Then, under the banner of "sticking together for warmth," they all left their contact information and discussed the schools they wanted to apply to, trying to "concentrate in cities and disperse in schools," especially avoiding the livestock from Lujiawan who didn't treat scores as scores, so that everyone could get into college, in order to collect debts in the future.

So now they were also considered a group, but because they had been stationed in Lujiawan for a while, all their activities followed the people of Lujiawan.

On the other side of the Lujiawan group were the other candidates from Nanhugong Commune, mainly people from the Nanhugao High School review class.

These were basically local people from Nanhugong Commune, mainly residents of the town, and there were almost none from the other production teams.

The situation in those production teams was similar to that of Lujiawan a year ago. The vast majority of people had only attended elementary school, knew a few words, and could do arithmetic, which was about it.

Although there were a very few who refused to give up and worked hard to study on their own at home, their learning level was at most equivalent to Yang Ju and Zhang Cuie when they took the veterinary exam, and could not be higher.

They didn't have Chen Fan to advise them and make arrangements in advance. Faced with the college entrance examination, no one had the courage to even register.

In fact, this was also the normal state of grassroots villages across the country.

The main force of the college entrance examination in cities was current and former graduates, while in rural areas, it was mainly educated youth who had gone to the countryside. The number of villagers who could participate in the college entrance examination and get into college was not small, but rarer than a phoenix feather!

Therefore, as long as all 23 people from this wave of Lujiawan could get into college, preferably key universities, tsk tsk tsk... that would be amazing!

Perhaps even second-rate newspapers would be attracted.

At that time, Chen Fan would have achieved his goal.

However, that alone was not enough!

Today was the 30th day of the tenth lunar month, and tomorrow would be the first day of the eleventh lunar month, which was almost the time for snowfall. The weather was gloomy and cold. Although it wasn't raining, the north wind was blowing non-stop, and the cold air was drilling straight into people's necks.

At this time, there were still many people holding review materials, reading carefully, or discussing with each other, making final preparations.

(Sharpening spears outside the exam room)

Chen Fan was not in the crowd at this time. He was wearing a simple blue cotton-padded jacket and trousers, with a pair of cloth shoes on his feet, and a high-imitation Lei Feng hat made of cloth on his head. The brim of the hat was pulled directly below his eyebrows, and his face was wrapped in a cloth scarf.

Then, the whole person curled up into a ball, squatting next to the tree root, highlighting one word from head to toe: earthy!

However, almost half of the people here were dressed like this, so no one noticed him.

Zhang Wenliang wandered around the playground in a sweat, searched several times, but still couldn't find anyone. He leaned against a tree, lit a cigarette, frowned tightly, and continued to search the playground, "Where did he go?"

Chen Fan glanced at him and said softly, "Stay away from me."

Zhang Wenliang turned his head to look, carefully examined him a few times, and his face was very unsightly, "What are you talking about? I'm standing here..."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly widened his eyes, bent over and slowly walked over, and leaned in front of Chen Fan, "Damn, why are you dressed like a ghost?"

As he spoke, he was about to grab the mask on his face.

Chen Fan restrained his hand with a grappling technique and said unhappily, "I'm observing the enemy's situation, don't bother me."

Then he quickly changed to another tree to lean against.

Zhang Wenliang followed relentlessly, "No, what are you doing?"

Chen Fan scratched his head helplessly, "There are so many trees on the playground, why do you have to lean against this one?"

Zhang Wenliang's nose was almost crooked when he heard this, "I'm looking for you! You insisted on walking alone when we came out, and I've been looking for you many times, but I can't find you. I don't feel confident without you."

Chen Fan looked around, put his arm around his shoulder and pushed him away, until he walked behind a big tree in the distance before stopping, and whispered, "I taught my own students, how could I not know their level? You are just a team leader, just do a good job in logistics. Whether you have confidence or not is their business."

Zhang Wenliang blinked, shook his hand, "Let's not talk about this, we're about to enter the exam room. I see some people seem to be quite nervous, go and say a few words to them."

After a pause, he said in a good voice, "It's not that I want to deliberately trouble you, it's just that they only believe you, what can I do?"

Chen Fan narrowed his eyes, glanced at him, then looked in the direction of the Nanhugong Commune candidates, and pondered for two seconds, "Forget it, let's stabilize the morale first, and we'll talk about revenge later."

Zhang Wenliang was stunned, "Revenge?"

He looked in the direction Chen Fan had just looked, and asked puzzledly, "What revenge?"

Chen Fan first took off his cotton-padded jacket, shook it vigorously, and then put it on the other way around, turning it into a medium-length cotton trench coat made of cotton silk fabric. The pants and shoes were not easy to change, and there was no need to, then he took off the scarf and wrapped it around his neck, took off his hat and folded it a few times, turning the Lei Feng hat into a melon-skin hat.

Zhang Wenliang watched him complete the transformation, his eyes straightened, "Clothes can be played like this? Where did you buy it?"

Chen Fan straightened his clothes, curled his lips and said, "Buy? Hmph, I made this myself."

He shook his head and smiled, "When I was reading books on making clothes, I wondered if I could combine two clothes into one, wear the front side and then wear the reverse side, so it's like having two clothes. I tried it many times and wasted a lot of fabric, but I finally succeeded. How is it, handsome or not?"

He also gestured with his clothes, "And it can be disassembled, oh, several clothes can be combined separately, so you can have many pieces."

Zhang Wenliang's face twitched, and thousands of words turned into one sentence, "Make one for me when you have time!"

Chen Fan straightened his clothes and walked forward, "No time."

Zhang Wenliang muttered silently, "You're the most idle in the whole team, how could you not have time."

Immediately following behind, he asked, "Hey, you haven't said what revenge you're planning?"

Chen Fan pointed his chin forward and said softly, "I found out that the person who wrote the anonymous letters about Xiao Jiang is in that group of people."

Hearing this, Zhang Wenliang was first stunned, and then suddenly realized, "So, the reason you got yourself involved and helped Xiao Jiang return to the city was because of this?"

Chen Fan glanced at him. Although he hadn't told anyone about this, it seemed that Zhang Wenliang was the only one who didn't know the inside story!

Having one less thing to worry about in his brain really did reduce a lot of troubles.

He turned his head to look forward again, "Anyway, Xiao Jiang has returned to the city. Whether or not she takes the college entrance exam is up to her, but this revenge must be taken."

Zhang Wenliang nodded without hesitation, "This is a must."

Most people these days are just that simple, helping relatives and not reason!

Besides, he was on the side of reason.

He also looked at those people and asked in a low voice, "Did you find the person?"

Chen Fan smiled slightly, "Locked onto three targets."

Then he pointed to them from afar, "The woman wearing the floral plaid, the woman wearing the white scarf, and the woman wearing black glasses with two braids."

Zhang Wenliang clicked his tongue, focused his attention, and immediately frowned slightly, "They all seem to be educated youths who were sent to the Sixth Team."

Chen Fan withdrew his gaze and continued walking forward, "I expected it."

Zhang Wenliang quickly followed, "Hey, how did you find them?"

Chen Fan said, "I asked the school district office and the prefectural education office for those anonymous letters, remembered the handwriting in the letters, and then looked through all the registration forms in the Nanhuzhen Commune. I found that only their information completely matched the handwriting in the letters.

Just now, I also observed carefully. Although that group of people were all looking at the people in our team, only those three were paying attention to finding people, obviously wanting to see if Xiao Jiang had come. There's no doubt about it now."

As he spoke, he suddenly reached out his hand and grabbed hard, "Suspects locked!"

Zhang Wenliang nodded and suddenly asked, "What are you planning to do for revenge?"

Chen Fan smiled slightly, "Poison!"

Zhang Wenliang's eyes widened instantly, "Isn't that too much? That's too ruthless!"

Chen Fan glanced at him, "What are you thinking? I mean, I'm thinking of a way to give them some laxatives so that they all become weaklings in the examination room. They won't be able to take the exam properly, and even if they barely get into the examination room, they can only get low scores!"

Hearing this, Zhang Wenliang nodded repeatedly, clapping his hands together, "This is a good idea. They prevented Xiao Jiang from taking the exam, so let's prevent them from taking the exam too. Let's do it!"

As he spoke, he waved his hand, "Then you go take revenge. I'll take care of stabilizing the morale."

Chen Fan looked at the crowd of Lujiawan in front of him, his face full of speechlessness. You want me to leave when we're already here?

At this time, he was wearing a khaki windbreaker, the most handsome guy on the playground. Almost everyone saw Chen Fan walking over, and Zhang Cuie, Huang Ying, Yang Ju, and Liu Dan quickly greeted him, and the others also moved over there.

Chen Fan walked up to them, smiling and nodding to Zhang Cuie, who called him "Master," and then looked at everyone, "The exam is about to start. Are you nervous?"

Huang Ying immediately said, "It would be a lie to say I'm not nervous, but I can handle it."

Chen Fan smiled and said to everyone, "Compared to others, you have been reviewing for a whole year. You have studied almost all the test points. You can all get high scores of 90 or more on the mock tests I gave you before. As long as you can perform normally, you will definitely pass."

After a pause, he smiled again, "Now do a final check. Have you brought your admission ticket, pens, and other stationery? When you enter the examination room, don't pay attention to others. Just sit in your own seat and answer your own questions carefully."

Speaking of the end, he suddenly raised his voice, "Check your pockets again. Don't, don't, don't bring review materials into the examination room.

Today is the official start of the exam. It's not like the preliminary exam where there's room for negotiation. If you are found to be carrying materials today, not only will all your scores be invalidated, but you will also be subject to additional punishment. Be sure to pay attention."

Whether it was the people from Lujiawan or the educated youths from other places and local candidates on both sides, after hearing his words, they all began to check themselves.

Many people were really carrying review materials with them, thinking they could take a few more glances before entering the examination room. At this time, fearing that they would accidentally bring them in, they all took out the materials and handed them over to the people who accompanied them to collect them.

Before long, the loudspeaker in the school rang, the exam time had arrived, and under the direction of the staff, everyone entered the venue in an orderly manner.

Chen Fan stood at the only intersection leading to the classroom, cheering everyone on, "Relax, don't be nervous. Mr. Li told us that all enemies are paper tigers. We must despise them strategically and value them tactically…"

This shout was extraordinary, and immediately some candidates loudly recited slogans and strode into the examination room with their heads held high.

While the people here were shouting slogans, someone in the classroom over there began to sing "The East is Red." Those who knew the situation clearly knew that they were cheering for the college entrance examination, but those who didn't know thought there was a literary performance here.

Soon, all the candidates entered the examination room, took out their admission tickets, found their seats, took out their stationery, and waited for the exam to officially begin.

(The big guy's admission ticket later retired as a senior editor at a second-rate newspaper. Among all the admission tickets, I felt that girl was the most beautiful, and this one was the most handsome.)

As the examination bell rang, the campus quickly became quiet.

People like Chen Fan who accompanied the exam were asked to leave the campus until the exam was over and the candidates inside came out.

Across the road from the school gate, Chen Fan sat on his own small stool, staring at the school gate, silently smoking a cigarette, not knowing what he was thinking.

Far away in Yunhu City, tens of kilometers away, the college entrance examination was also being conducted simultaneously at this time.

In the two separate examination rooms, Jiang Tiantian and Jiang Lili each placed their admission tickets on the corner of the table, waited to receive the test papers, and looked at the cotton rope on their wrists at the same time, Chen Fan's words ringing in their minds, "When facing the battle, be like cotton, seemingly soft but actually strong. Just relax and take the exam, don't think about anything else."

Afterwards, they took a deep breath almost simultaneously and devoted themselves to the exam with all their attention.

Chen Fan's line of sight passed through the smoke, as if he saw… a hand?

He turned his head to look at Zhang Wenliang, "Why are you waving your hand in front of me without saying a word?"

Zhang Wenliang grinned and smiled, "Wasn't I seeing you in a daze? I didn't expect you to be so alert."

After a pause, he looked around and asked in a low voice, "Have you figured out how to poison them yet?"

Chen Fan clicked his tongue, painfully pulled off his hat, "I haven't figured it out yet. I'm not familiar with them, and I don't even have a chance to get close. Besides, they wrote anonymous letters, so they must be wary of me."

Speaking of this, he turned his head to look at Zhang Wenliang, "Why don't you go?"

Zhang Wenliang's face fell, "That's like saying I'm very familiar with them."

Then the two began to discuss with great interest what kind of method to use to poison them in order to be undetectable and not make people associate it with themselves?

After discussing for half an hour, Zhang Wenliang negated another idea in his mind, and suddenly heard a burst of crying from the opposite campus.

What's the situation?

Not only were they alarmed, but dozens of accompanying personnel at the school gate couldn't help but flock to the gate.

Before long, they saw several security soldiers escorting several people out.

Some of these people were dejected, some were crying, and when the iron gate of the campus opened, they were driven out of the school gate in a swarm.

Seeing that the staff was about to go back, one person grabbed the iron gate and shouted loudly, "Comrade, comrade, what's going on?"

A staff member turned around and immediately scolded, "Keep your voice down, they're taking the exam inside."

After a pause, he pointed to the group of people and said in a low voice, "These were all found to be carrying cheat sheets. According to the regulations, they were expelled from the examination room, and all the exams this year are invalid. As for how to punish them later, we'll talk about it after the college entrance examination is over."

After speaking, he turned around and walked inside.

There was an uproar outside the school gate.

After a brief silence, someone suddenly erupted, some raised their feet and started kicking, some took off their shoes and slammed them with the soles, and some hated them for not living up to expectations, and waved their hands to drive people away.

Zhang Wenliang sat on the curb, watching the three of the girls who had been driven away, and mumbled with his mouth open, "Well, you don't need to poison them, they're done for."

A few smiles flashed in Chen Fan's eyes, and he nodded and said, "Heaven's sins can be forgiven, but self-inflicted sins cannot be lived with."

As for how those girls couldn't figure out how the review materials stayed in their pockets, that was none of his business.