Chapter 121: First Update

Chapter 121: First Update

December arrived, and with it, the day of the college entrance exams. The daytime temperature was around 20 degrees Celsius, neither cold nor hot, just the most comfortable temperature. Although Qin Yao wasn’t taking the exams, she got up early and headed to the exam venue. However, she wasn’t there to take the test; she was there to be a proctor.

Many educated youths had remained on the island, and the number of people signing up for the college entrance exams was unusually high. This was a massive event, with a registration fee of just fifty cents, affordable even for the poorest families. Nearly ten years' worth of students, along with this year’s high school students, had mostly signed up for the exams.

For many, it was all about participating. Besides the registration fee, there were no other costs, except for the review materials, which had to be purchased by the students themselves.

Of course, once the news of the resumed college entrance exams came out, all the review guides at the Xinhua Bookstore sold out like crazy. Many people queued up to grab them, but most only managed to get one or two books and had to exchange them with others to study.

Privately, another type of crudely printed material—created using wax engraving—was circulating. These were made by middle school teachers who came up with their own questions for students to review. These materials were numerous and varied.

These middle school teachers were not only teaching but also participating in the same college entrance exams. Teachers and students even took the exams together, and some families had siblings or even parents and children taking the exams at the same time—a scenario unimaginable in later years.

Qin Yao wanted to join in the excitement, so she signed up to assist in the college entrance exams as a volunteer proctor.

Because so many people signed up for the exams, many units' premises became temporary exam venues, and each unit had to provide a group of proctors. Qin Yao volunteered.

The classroom she proctored in was a temporary exam room converted from an elementary school, located on the first floor at the farthest corner. She proctored with another male teacher who had a square face.

The male teacher didn’t expect Qin Yao to be so young and pretty and thought she was there to take the exam. "Student, let me see your admission ticket. You’re here very early."

Qin Yao said, "This is my work ID. I’m also a proctor."

"Ah? Is that so? You’re very young. What unit are you from? Why didn’t you sign up for the college entrance exams? Many young teachers from our unit have signed up for the exams..."

"If you could graduate and become a factory manager or even a director, that would be a big deal."

In the future, most proctors for the college entrance exams would be teachers and graduate students, and the same would go for grading the exams. But this time, since many teachers were taking the exams, proctors had to be recruited from other units.

Similarly, many young people in various units, as long as they were in their twenties and still had some ambition, were willing to try their luck in the college entrance exams. If they got into a good university, they might end up in a better state-owned factory after graduation.

Back then, people still preferred state-owned factories over public institutions, holding onto old ideas that being assigned to a good state-owned factory was the best path for university graduates.

In the past few years, employees of state-owned factories had the best benefits. Large factories with tens of thousands of employees provided housing, kindergartens, hospitals, primary and secondary schools, and even nursing homes... Many people spent most of their lives in these factories, which took care of everything from birth to death.

Public servants, like police officers, didn’t get any extra perks, only a fixed salary, with no additional benefits during the New Year. Factory workers, on the other hand, had the benefit of purchasing defective products at a low price... This was the greatest welfare for employees.

Some employees in refrigerator, television, and washing machine factories even deliberately increased defective products so they could buy them at a low price—this contributed to the slow decline of state-owned factories in the 1980s.

Most people were still operating on outdated information. At that time, many were still rushing toward state-owned factories. The first batch of students who took the restored college entrance exams in the 1970s faced massive layoffs in the 1990s, which was truly lamentable.

Qin Yao nodded in agreement, not bothering to argue with the idea that everyone was still aiming for state-owned factories.

The classroom serving as an exam venue was simply arranged with only desks and chairs. Red banners were posted in the corridors, and all the way to the entrance, there were red slogan banners and portraits of leaders.

Soon, a flood of test-takers poured into the exam venue. Unlike other provinces where people dressed in dull winter clothes, the islanders wore brighter colors. The men mostly wore white shirts or blue-striped sailor shirts, while the girls wore floral patterns. As they walked together, the sea breeze made their clothes flutter.

Seeing this scene, Qin Yao couldn’t help but feel excited. She had only taken the college entrance exams once, but now she was a proctor again. Of course, she had also graded exam papers before... Now she had experienced everything related to the exams.

If she ever got the chance to create an exam paper or have her writing appear on one, she would truly be "remembered by history."

Suppressing her surging emotions, after announcing the exam rules and regulations, they waited a little while until the sound of a bell rang outside. Qin Yao and the other male teacher distributed the exam papers.

Once the candidates received their papers, they began answering. As a proctor, Qin Yao fell into a state of boredom. It had to be said that no matter how many times one proctored, it was always boring, especially since you couldn’t play with your phone.

Qin Yao started observing the students in the exam room. The oldest students were probably in their thirties or forties, while the youngest were in their teens. This exam venue was full of variety. Some people wrote furiously on their papers, while others... after writing for ten minutes or so, fell into a stalemate.

Most people managed to fill out the Chinese exam, but the math papers had large sections left blank, which made Qin Yao sigh endlessly.

Damn, these college entrance exam math problems are so easy.

How could they not answer such simple questions?

……

When the history exam came, Qin Yao could hardly stop herself from laughing, especially at the terminology explanations. It was like the ridiculous translation questions from the CET exams. The best part was a question asking to explain "Napoleon."

Most people really didn’t know who Napoleon was. Can you believe that? The answers were all over the place.

——"Start a rebellion with a broken wheel?"

——"Invented the bicycle."

……

The terminology explanations on the history exam asked for the most basic information that future college entrance candidates would know. In fact, if you had read *The Book of 100,000 Whys*, you could answer most of the questions.

They were really just testing common knowledge and common sense.

Qin Yao had always heard that college students from the 1970s and 1980s were precious and extraordinary, but… these exam questions were too easy. She felt that she could easily get into college without even studying.

Thinking about all those years of hard study, Comrade Qin couldn’t help but feel a little heartache.

The college entrance exams really do get harder and more competitive with each passing year, and the same goes for the postgraduate entrance exams. The test scores keep getting higher, the exams more difficult, and the competition fiercer.

Each time she proctored an exam, her frustration grew. The questions just kept getting simpler. Not to mention history, even the English exam was no more difficult than the middle school entrance exam, which left Qin Yao, who had long passed the CET, in deep sorrow. She thought that with this level of difficulty, she could answer the questions even if she used her feet to think.

This also showed that most people across the country at that time didn’t have a high level of education. If you had a middle school education, you were already considered educated. A middle school graduate could already be a substitute teacher at a village primary school. It was that absurd.

After proctoring the last exam, Qin Yao let out a sigh of relief. When she got home and saw Gu Cheng, Comrade Qin couldn’t help but say, “I should have participated in the exam.”

Gu Cheng was puzzled. “Why?”

“The questions were too easy. If I had taken the exam, I could definitely get into Tsinghua or Peking University.”

Gu Cheng: “……”

At that moment, the somewhat self-serving Captain Gu was secretly relieved that she didn’t go to the exam. He didn’t want to be separated from her across great distances.

“Comrade Qin Yao, you’re great. I won’t hurt your confidence. You just focus on encouraging and nurturing our two little ones to take the Tsinghua and Peking University exams.” Captain Gu quickly shifted the blame, trying to distract her. He hoped she wouldn’t take the exam this year or even next year.

Qin Yao: “……”

She blinked and said with a smile, “Captain Gu, do you know what you’re like right now? You’re like one of those husbands who hide their wives' admission tickets before the college entrance exams.”

“Are you afraid that if I get into college, I’ll abandon my husband and child? After all, I’m still so young and beautiful. If I get a well-paying job after graduation, will I still need you? No, I won’t.”

“I’ll throw the son away and leave him to you. Then I’ll find a young, handsome guy.”

Gu Cheng bared his teeth and said, “You’d better just be joking, or I’ll be put in confinement.”

“You’re getting pretty bold, huh? Talking back to your wife like that? Tonight, you’re sleeping on the couch. Go ahead, sleep with the kids.”

Gu Cheng fell silent, trying to muddle through, but there was no way he was going to sleep separately. He would shamelessly stick to his wife’s bed, absolutely refusing to sleep with the kids who all had bad sleeping habits.

The couple didn’t sleep separately, but the two children were put in separate rooms. They had originally slept together, but because Rui Rui had a fever and cold, they were separated to prevent infection.

Rui Rui’s fever had broken, but he was still coughing. Qin Yao gave him Fritillary Bulb and Loquat Syrup three times a day, but Rui Rui really disliked taking the medicine. The usually well-behaved eldest son was being stubborn, clamping his mouth shut and refusing to take the medicine.

Mingming, who wasn’t coughing or sick, really wanted to try the herbal tea and was standing nearby, eyeing it longingly.

Qin Yao gave him honey water, but he still coveted the cough syrup his brother was drinking.

After all, the grass is always greener on the other side.

"Mom, why can’t I be the one who’s sick?"

Qin Yao pinched his cheek, "Don’t make your mom angry."

"One sick kid is bad enough; I don’t need two!"

"Wait until you’re the one who’s sick—you’ll see how miserable it is."

Although Mingming was a bit weak, he had a pretty strong immune system and rarely got sick, which made him healthier than his brother in that respect. By then, Mingming would turn four.