It wasn’t a restful sleep.
Maybe it was because of the unfamiliar bed, or maybe the guesthouse pillows were too soft, offering no support.
There was no alarm clock.
What woke everyone was the sound of Old Zhao knocking on the door.
"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!"
The sound wasn’t loud, but it had an undeniable piercing quality that slipped through the crack under the door and into their ears, instantly chasing away any lingering sleepiness.
Wang Yang shot up in bed.
For a moment, his gaze was vacant and his pupils unfocused, but his hand had already instinctively reached under his pillow.
After fumbling for a moment, his fingers closed around the dog-eared formula booklet. He let out a long breath, as if he’d just grasped a lifeline.
It was like someone about to catch a train, whose first act upon waking is to check if their ticket is still there.
The curtains in the room were drawn tight, letting in no light.
Only a sliver of ghastly white light from the hallway crept in from under the door.
On the opposite bed, Chen Zhuo was already dressed.
He was sitting on the edge of the bed, head down, tying his shoelaces.
The zipper on his dark blue school uniform was pulled all the way to the top, the collar folded neatly.
Hearing Wang Yang stir, Chen Zhuo didn’t look up. He just hooked a finger around a shoelace and pulled it tight.
"Go wash up. I turned on the water heater, so the water’s hot."
Wang Yang padded barefoot onto the carpet.
He went into the bathroom. The mirror was still covered in a layer of steam from when Chen Zhuo had washed up.
Wang Yang turned on the faucet.
Water gushed out, splashing into the basin.
He cupped a handful of cold water and splashed it on his face.
Cold.
The bone-chilling cold seeped through his pores and into his brain, dousing the last remnants of sleep from his body.
He lifted his head and looked at his reflection in the mirror.
There were faint dark circles under his eyes, and a tuft of hair on one side was sticking up from being slept on.
He reached up and tried to press the tuft of hair down, but it wouldn’t stay.
He wet his hand and smoothed it down forcefully, and it finally became a little more cooperative.
The door to the room next door, 305, opened.
Zhao Chen poked his head out, sporting a bird’s nest of hair. He glanced down the hall, then pulled his head back in.
"Fatty, I need to take a shit."
"Piss off. Hold it. I’m still brushing my teeth."
Liu Kai’s muffled voice came from inside.
"I really can’t hold it... We haven’t even had the guesthouse breakfast yet, and my stomach’s already acting up."
On the third-floor hallway, sounds of activity began to stir, one after another.
Besides City No.1 Middle School, the representative teams from several other counties and cities were also staying on this floor.
The sounds of doors opening, toilets flushing, and the rustling of plastic bags all mixed together.
There were no grand, pre-battle pronouncements, just the sounds of small, mundane activities.
「Seven o’clock sharp.」
Eight students, backpacks on, stood at the door of room 306.
The five from the math group: Wang Yang, Zhao Chen, Liu Kai, Nan Xiaoyun, and Lin Xiao.
The two from the physics group: Li Hao and Zhang Wei.
And the team captain: Chen Zhuo.
Everyone wore the same dark blue school uniform, standing under the dim lights of the hallway.
Old Zhao stood at the front of the line, a briefcase in his hand.
Old Zhou stood at the very back, holding a teacup.
"Is everyone here?"
Old Zhao asked.
"All here."
Chen Zhuo replied.
"Let’s go. Downstairs for breakfast."
The air in the guesthouse’s first-floor dining hall was always filled with a certain smell that never seemed to go away.
The dining hall was buzzing with voices.
Nearly all the competing teams from across the province were staying nearby, and it was currently the peak time for breakfast.
As far as the eye could see, it was filled with teenage boys and girls in colorful school uniforms, chattering away in various local dialects like a giant chicken farm.
The eight from City No.1 Middle School took a large round table by the window.
In the middle of the table were several stainless steel bowls.
A bowl of watery rice porridge, a bowl of plump, white steamed buns, a large plate of hard-boiled eggs, and two small dishes of finely shredded pickled vegetables.
A typical guesthouse breakfast. It would fill you up, but you definitely couldn’t call it delicious.
But at this moment, even if they were served an imperial feast, it was doubtful anyone could taste a thing.
The two from the physics group, Li Hao and Zhang Wei, still had decent appetites, since they had a stay of execution until the afternoon session.
Li Hao grabbed two boiled eggs in one go. As he tapped one on the edge of the table, he muttered to Zhang Wei.
"Hey, you think they’ll test us on thermodynamics this afternoon? I saw that outdoor AC unit last night and it suddenly made me think of the Carnot cycle."
"Who knows? We’ll just do whatever they throw at us."
Zhang Wei poured a little vinegar into his porridge.
"Anyway, our brothers from the math team are the ones going to their deaths this morning. We’re not heading to the execution grounds until this afternoon."
Hearing this, the faces of the five members of the math group next to them turned an even deeper shade of green.
Wang Yang held a boiled egg, having been trying to peel it for a while.
The egg had probably been boiled for too long, or maybe it hadn’t been cooled in water, because the shell was stuck fast to the white.
Wang Yang’s hands were trembling slightly. When he dug his nail in, he tore off a large chunk of the white along with the shell, leaving the egg instantly pockmarked, as if a dog had chewed on it.
He looked at the wretched-looking egg in his hand, sighed, and, losing the heart to peel it properly, shoved it directly into his mouth.
Dry.
So dry.
The yolk got stuck in his throat, refusing to go up or down. He was choking so hard his eyes started to roll back.
He quickly grabbed his bowl of porridge and gulped down a huge mouthful, forcefully washing the choking lump down.
Zhao Chen was even worse off, staring at half a steamed bun with a miserable expression.
"I’m not hungry... I feel like my stomach is all knotted up."
The two girls, Nan Xiaoyun and Lin Xiao, had barely touched their chopsticks either. They were sharing a bowl of porridge, quietly discussing whether they could bring water bottles into the exam hall later.
"Eat."
A calm voice broke the dejected atmosphere.
Chen Zhuo was peeling an egg.
His movements were slow and methodical.
In no time, a perfectly smooth, whole egg appeared in his hand.
He ate the egg in two bites, took a sip of millet porridge, and picked up some shredded pickled vegetables with his chopsticks.
His appetite was excellent; he even ate one more steamed bun than usual.
"You have to eat, even if you don’t want to."
Chen Zhuo didn’t look up as he put a piece of pickled vegetable into his mouth.
"The exam is three hours of intense mental labor. The brain’s only source of energy is glucose."
"The brain needs a lot of glucose to function at high intensity.
If you don’t eat enough, your blood sugar will drop an hour and a half in. At that point, forget about solving problems—you won’t even be able to hold your pen."
He pointed at the steamed bun in Zhao Chen’s hand.
"Shove it in. Even if you have to wash it down with water, you’re going to get it down."
Zhao Chen flinched and shrank back at his words. Seeing the non-negotiable expression on Chen Zhuo’s face, he could only grimace and start gnawing on the steamed bun as if it were medicine.
Old Zhao and Old Zhou were squatting on the steps at the entrance of the dining hall, smoking and holding large tea mugs.
Through the glass, they watched the group of kids inside. Although they were eating a bit stubbornly, their spirits seemed to be in good shape.
"Looks like they all slept well last night."
Old Zhao glanced at the kids, and half the weight in his heart lifted.
"Of course."
Old Zhou blew on the tea leaves floating on the surface of his water.
"With Chen Zhuo there to keep things in line, they won’t get out of hand. That kid... I heard some noise from their room last night, but I didn’t bother with it."
"You heard it too?"
Old Zhao chuckled.
"I heard it too. Sounded like they were playing cards? These little monkeys are getting bolder and bolder."
"Playing cards is a good thing."
Old Zhou took a sip of his tea.
"Playing cards means they aren’t panicking. If they were still cramming at a time like this, then they’d really be screwed."
"Yeah."
Old Zhao stubbed out his cigarette butt and threw it in the trash can.
"Old Zhou, keep an eye on Li Hao and Zhang Wei this morning. Don’t let them run off."
"Don’t worry."
Old Zhou clapped Old Zhao on the shoulder.
"This morning, I’ll take them to find a cool spot outside the exam hall to do some reading."

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