「7:40 AM.」
The army began its march.
The Provincial Experimental Middle School wasn’t far from the guesthouse, only a ten-minute walk or so.
It was the peak of the morning rush hour.
The Provincial City’s streets were a sea of cars and people. The buses were crammed with expressionless commuters. The smell of oily smoke from the roadside breakfast stalls mingled with the stench of car exhaust.
The students, wearing their school uniforms and carrying their backpacks, blended into the rushing crowd.
No one spoke.
Old Zhao led the way, with Old Zhou bringing up the rear. They were like two sheepdogs guarding a flock of lambs on their way to be sacrificed.
Along the way, Old Zhao didn’t bring up anything about problems or formulas.
He pointed to a tall building by the side of the road.
"Hey, look at that. Is that the provincial telecom building? It’s so tall. The tallest building in our city is just the department store."
Then he pointed to a young man on a multi-speed bicycle.
"Look at that bike. It’s a Giant, right? That thing must cost several thousand."
He was trying his best to make small talk.
He hoped this pointless chatter could distract the students from the impending exam, even for just a second.
But it seemed to have little effect.
The closer they got to the Provincial Experimental Middle School, the heavier the oppressive atmosphere became.
At the school gate, that pressure materialized.
The school gate was packed with people.
A dense, dark sea of them.
They were all students from the various cities and regions, and the teachers who had escorted them.
Some schools were still lining up their students for a pep talk. Some students were frantically cramming from their books. Some parents were fussing over their children’s collars.
The clamor of chatter, recitation, and admonishments merged into a great wave of sound that surged toward the heavens.
The group from City No.1 Middle School stopped under a large parasol tree.
"Don’t wander off. Stay right here."
Old Zhao checked his watch.
"Entry starts in ten minutes. If you need the bathroom, go again now. It’ll be crowded inside, and the lines will be long."
Just then, a group of people strolled over from the school’s side gate.
They were students from the Provincial Experimental School itself.
Unlike the visiting students at the gate, who looked like they were facing a great enemy, this bunch of local students was so relaxed it was almost infuriating.
Some were wheeling their bikes, others were holding half-finished cups of soy milk, chatting in small groups of two or three.
It felt like a normal Sunday morning, as if they were just coming to school for a makeup class or an interest group.
That at-home feeling they exuded was perhaps the biggest psychological blow to the visiting students.
The battle you see as life-or-death is just a normal weekend morning for them.
"Hey, isn’t that the Provincial Experimental team?"
Zhao Chen, sharp-eyed, pointed to a group of students walking over from the direction of the academic building.
All of them were in identical light blue, short-sleeved school uniforms.
Leading them was a girl.
Chen Zhuo followed his gaze.
It was the same short-haired girl from last night.
She wasn’t sleeping today, but she didn’t look far from it.
She wasn’t wearing a backpack. Her uniform jacket was unzipped, revealing a white T-shirt underneath.
She was holding a thick stack of red cards in her arms.
She walked slowly, handing out the cards to the people beside her as she went.
"Li Xiang."
"Here."
"Zhang He."
"Catch."
She didn’t even look at them, just mechanically called out names and handed things over.
A boy next to her took one and also grabbed the mineral water bottle that was about to slip from her grasp, holding it for her.
"How many more to go?" the boy asked.
"Just a few left."
The girl yawned, squeezing a couple of tears from the corners of her eyes, and wiped them away casually.
"You hand out the rest. I’m dead tired."
With that, she slapped the remaining stack of admission tickets into the boy’s arms.
The boy didn’t say anything, just dutifully took them and continued calling out names.
With her hands now free, the girl stretched lazily.
She stood in the crowd, surrounded by the cacophony of recitation and noise.
It was as if she didn’t hear a thing; she didn’t even glance at the cluster of visiting students at the school gate.
She turned, kicked a stray pebble, and ambled back toward the academic building.
The Provincial Experimental students around her, some talking, some drinking water, all naturally stepped aside to clear a path as she passed.
No one made a point of greeting her, nor did anyone give her a second look.
Chen Zhuo stood under the tree, watching the scene unfold.
He adjusted his glasses, then twisted open his water bottle and took a sip.
「8:00 AM sharp.」
Everyone moved to the lecture hall.
Because the physics group had their exam in the afternoon, the organizing committee, to save trouble, arranged a unified pre-exam mobilization and pep rally for everyone in the morning.
Several hundred people were crammed into the semi-circular, tiered lecture hall.
The air conditioning was on, but with so many people, the air was still suffocatingly hot, thick with a mix of shampoo, medicated oil, and sweat.
The leaders arrived.
A few middle-aged men in white shirts took their seats on the stage.
The procedure was excruciatingly dull.
First, introductions of the guests, followed by speeches from the leaders.
The microphone quality was poor, occasionally letting out a piercing shriek that made everyone’s ears ring.
"Students, you are the elite of the province, the scientists of the future..."
The leader on stage read from a script, his tone full of forced cadence.
The students below reacted in various ways.
Wang Yang sat bolt upright, even taking notes on the exam regulations in a small notebook, though all those rules were already printed on the back of the admission ticket.
Zhao Chen and Li Hao were secretly fiddling with their fingers.
Li Hao didn’t have an exam in the morning anyway, so his mindset was more detached. He even secretly pulled out a copy of *Science Fiction World* and read it on his lap.
Chen Zhuo leaned back in his chair, resting with his eyes closed.
Not far in front of him sat the Provincial Experimental School’s team.
The short-haired girl was sitting in the seat closest to the aisle.
She was already slumped over her desk.
Probably finding the lights too bright, she had taken off her uniform jacket and draped it over her head, curling up into a ball like a blue cocoon.
The boys next to her sat up a little straighter, conveniently blocking the line of sight of any patrolling teachers.
The leader droned on passionately from the stage.
She slept below, dead to the world.
「8:30 AM.」
"Finally, I wish you all the best of luck and excellent results! Meeting adjourned!"
At the command, the lecture hall instantly erupted into chaos.
The crowd split into two streams.
One headed toward the academic building for the math competition.
The other headed for the rest area or out of the school, for the afternoon physics exam.
Li Hao stood up and patted Zhao Chen on the shoulder.
"Bro, I’m heading out. I’ll be waiting for your good news at noon."
Zhao Chen had a pained expression.
"Don’t just stand around. Say a prayer for me."
Zhang Wei walked up to Chen Zhuo and gave him a thumbs-up.
"Chief, it’s all on you now. Show them what City No.1 Middle School is made of."
Chen Zhuo nodded.
"See you this afternoon."
Watching the backs of the two from the physics group as they left, the remaining five were suddenly struck with a sense of tragic heroism, as if they were soldiers marching to their doom.
The hallway was crowded.
People were everywhere, backpacks bumping against backpacks, shoulders pressed against shoulders.
Chen Zhuo walked on the outside of the group, using his body to slightly shield the petite Nan Xiaoyun behind him.
It was a bit congested up ahead.
The Provincial Experimental team was walking in front of them.
The short-haired girl had probably just woken up. Her uniform jacket wasn’t properly on, just draped over her shoulders with the two sleeves dangling empty.
She was being jostled about by the crowd, stumbling a little.
She happened to be pushed back right next to Chen Zhuo.
She turned her head, her eyes still a bit dazed, and subconsciously glanced at the person beside her.
She saw Chen Zhuo.
He probably looked a little familiar.
After all, they had seen each other at KFC yesterday, and he had been sitting behind her during the assembly just now.
Her gaze lingered for a second.
Her expression was blank.
It was the kind of stupor you’re in when you’ve just woken up and your brain hasn’t started working yet.
She yawned, a single tear squeezing from the corner of her eye.
Then she looked away and continued to shuffle forward with the crowd.
Chen Zhuo also retracted his gaze, turning sideways to let a student with a large bag squeeze past.
The two of them walked side-by-side like that for a while, neither speaking, neither looking at the other.
They continued until the third-floor corner, where the girl went left toward Exam Room 1, and Chen Zhuo led his group right toward Exam Room 3.
Their paths crossed, and they went their separate ways.
「8:45 AM.」
The hallway outside Exam Room 3.
This was the final preparation area.
Old Zhao stood by the window, his expression even more grim than the students’.
Old Zhao wasn’t making small talk anymore.
He had become incredibly fussy, like a mother hen sending her chicks off to kindergarten.
"Put all your bags down! On the windowsill over here."
"Pencil cases! Take out your clear pencil cases! Don’t bring anything else!"
"Cell phones, pagers, digital watches—if you have them, hand them over now! If one goes off in the exam hall, you get an automatic zero!"
"You can bring water bottles, but don’t put them on the desk! Put them on the floor! Don’t get the exam papers wet!"
Everyone obediently piled their backpacks on the windowsill, holding only the thin, clear pencil cases in their hands.
Wang Yang’s hands had started shaking again.
He checked the pencils in his case over and over, terrified they might be broken.
Zhao Chen stood beside him without a word, rubbing his face until it was bright red.
The two girls, Nan Xiaoyun and Lin Xiao, held each other’s hands, their palms clammy with cold sweat.
Liu Kai leaned against the wall, his eyes vacant, staring at a crack in the wall opposite him.
Fear is contagious.
Chen Zhuo stood nearby. He glanced at Wang Yang, then at Zhao Chen.
He didn’t say anything.
He reached into his pocket and felt the small, distinctively shaped glass bottle.
Mentholated oil.
He had bought it last night from the small shop downstairs at the guesthouse.
Chen Zhuo walked over to Wang Yang.
He held out the bottle.
"Put some on."
"Huh?" Wang Yang stared blankly at the small green bottle.
"Your temples. Use a lot."
Chen Zhuo pointed to his own head.
"The sting will wake you right up."
Wang Yang took it.
His hands still trembling slightly, he poured a little out and rubbed it fiercely onto his temples.
Two seconds later.
His eyes shot wide open, and tears streamed down his face.
"Holy shit... that stings..."
He sucked in a sharp breath, fanning his face with his hand.
But his hands weren’t shaking anymore.
The suffocating tension was washed away by the intense physical sensation.
"Let me get some of that."
Zhao Chen leaned in, snatched the bottle, and without checking the amount, smeared some on his forehead.
"Damn, that’s intense!"
He yelped and grimaced, his eyes as red as a rabbit’s, but his spirits instantly lifted.
The bottle was passed around among the group.
Nan Xiaoyun, Lin Xiao, Liu Kai—everyone put on a little.
They all stood in the hallway, eyes watering, sniffing.
But at least they were much more awake.
"Alright."
Chen Zhuo took the bottle back, tightened the cap, and stuffed it back into his pocket.
Just then, the preliminary bell rang.
The shrill sound of the electric bell echoed through the hallway.
The proctor walked over, holding a sealed bag of exam papers.
"Line up! Prepare to enter! Admission tickets in your hands!"
Old Zhao stood to the side, no longer speaking.
He just gave them a heavy nod.
And waved.
Inside the exam hall.
Chen Zhuo walked into the classroom.
As expected, it was single desks for each person.
Off-white desktops, blue padded chairs, and the cool air from the air conditioner filling the room.
He found his seat: number 09.
He sat down and placed his pencil case on the corner of the desk.
He also placed the small green bottle of mentholated oil next to it, like a good luck charm.
He scanned his surroundings.
The classroom was quiet, with only the sound of students pulling out their chairs.
Chen Zhuo glanced out the window.
The Provincial City’s sky was a deep blue, with a few white clouds drifting lazily by.
Above the blackboard, the white projector hung silently, like a cold, indifferent eye.
He took a deep breath.
The stinging scent of the mentholated oil still lingered in his nostrils.
His mind felt as clear as a pane of freshly polished glass.
A crackle of static came over the speakers, followed by the proctor’s emotionless voice:
"Examinees, please stop talking."
"We will now begin distributing the exam papers."
"After you receive your paper, please check the number of pages and fill in your name and admission number..."
The two proctors, one at the front and one at the back, began handing out the papers.
Chen Zhuo took the exam paper and smoothed it out.
He picked up his black gel pen.
He wrote his name at the top of the paper.
Zeyang City No.1 Middle School.
Chen Zhuo.

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