Chapter 131

Chapter 131

Xu Jia was probably still waiting for her to perform poorly in the exams, though it was unclear whether she would resort to underhanded tactics again this time during the college entrance exams.

To prevent the admission letter from being stolen, the school had implemented various measures. However, for every safeguard, there’s someone determined to bypass it. No precaution could fully guard against those with ill intentions. But this time, Xu Meng was prepared. She had already performed well in the first Chinese exam, and if she could excel in the politics exam, her two weakest subjects would no longer be a problem.

As for Xu Jia, of course, she also wanted the admission letter, but Xu Meng knew it wouldn’t be that easy.

Xu Meng’s grades were excellent. If she managed to score the highest in the school this time, even without the admission letter, it would be impossible to hide the truth from her. So Xu Jia hoped she would perform poorly—just barely passing the minimum score for university admission would be ideal. If Xu Meng scored too well, too many eyes would be on her. But if her results were mediocre, everyone would simply assume her failure was expected.

Mr. Xia was resting upstairs. When he came down and saw Xu Meng already waiting, his face darkened as he began distributing the exam admission slips.

When he handed Xu Meng hers, he gave her an extra glance.

Xu Meng lowered her eyes, pretending to look tired. She even noticed the corner of Mr. Xia’s mouth twitch as he fought back a smirk.

Fine, she understood everything now.

She was determined to thwart Mr. Xia’s expectations.

The afternoon exam was at three. After a lunch break, everyone was in good spirits, and Xu Meng had rested well too. Once inside the school, she no longer needed to pretend. Before parting ways, she and Wei Xiang exchanged words of encouragement.

"Wei Xiang, don’t stress. For the major politics questions, just focus on the key concepts and keep your answers neat. Even if you don’t remember everything, a well-organized paper with relevant points will still earn you some credit."

Wei Xiang nodded. "You too—do your best. I hope you achieve great results."

Truthfully, Xu Meng had completely forgotten what the exams were like in her past life.

But she retained the logical thinking from her previous life, making politics much easier this time around. For parts she truly didn’t understand, she filled in the gaps with educated guesses. This time, she focused her revision on subjects where improvement was easier, while consistently acing English. With each attempt, she improved—liberal arts subjects were all about memorization, and Xu Meng was proof of that.

In her past life, Xu Meng had performed poorly in politics. But this time, aiming for a prestigious university, she couldn’t afford to be unbalanced. So she spent the last few months memorizing textbooks. After the final mock exam, her scores had undoubtedly improved significantly—though no one at school knew her true capabilities.

At a school like hers, having even a few students get into prestigious universities was considered a miracle. Achieving anything better would attract far more scrutiny.

Xu Meng had learned early on not to stand out. In the past, she had deliberately held herself back, never surpassing Xu Jia—it was her strategy for getting by.

This time, she was even more cautious. In the last few mock exams, she had deliberately underperformed. But now, she wouldn’t hold back. She would give it her all.

She was now absolutely certain that some people envied her.

And the more they did, the more determined she was to achieve even better results.

The exam papers were handed out. Xu Meng quickly scanned the paper before starting.

The proctor patrolled the classroom, pausing briefly to glance at Xu Meng’s paper.

This girl had remained composed the entire time, sitting upright as she answered. Teachers could easily recognize students who were well-prepared—and sure enough, her paper was perfectly neat, her handwriting neat.

Though this teacher didn’t teach politics, they had to admit: she was doing well.

Xu Meng finished twenty minutes early. Meanwhile, Xu Jia was floundering through the test, her earlier confidence from the midday break long gone. Resting well hadn’t helped—she still couldn’t answer the questions.

When the bell rang, Xu Meng let out a long breath as she left the examination room.

Just then, she spotted Wei Xiang emerging from another classroom. They exchanged smiles, both looking relaxed—Wei Xiang must have done well too.

Others weren’t so fortunate.

As for Xu Jia, after a full day of exams, she felt lightheaded and queasy. If not for the slim hope of barely qualifying for a community college, she wouldn’t have been able to endure the last two days.

On their way back that evening, there was no need to gather, but Han Jiming was already waiting outside the exam hall early. He stood far away, just saw Xu Meng come out from the school and nodding at her. He also noticed Feng Yanwen waiting outside, so he didn’t approach and just watched from a distance.

Outside the exam hall, Wang Shuanzhu and Feng Yanwen had been waiting for about twenty minutes, jammed in with the crowd of parents.

As soon as Xu Meng stepped out, Feng Yanwen rushed over and handed each of them a bottle of water.

Back then, staying at a classmate’s place was pretty normal. Over the past month, Feng Yanwen had taken good care of Wei Xiang as well. As soon as they came out, she asked how the exams went.

Xu Meng took the water and drank a big gulp. "I remember all the multiple-choice and true-or-false questions. I’ll write them down when I get back. But the essay questions are harder to guess. The school will surely organize teachers to release the answers after the exams, so there’s no rush now."

Feng Yanwen was just three months along and barely showing, but her appetite had improved lately.

Not wanting to stress them out about the exams today, she asked instead, "What do you guys wanna eat tonight?"

Xu Meng and Wei Xiang answered in unison, "Cold noodles!"

Feng Yanwen laughed. "I figured you’d say that. I asked Sister-in-law Qian to prepare it this afternoon. She also whipped up some cold shredded chicken. I tasted it before coming here—it’s really good."

She licked her lips as she talked.

Sister-in-law Qian was a killer cook, and cold noodles were her summer specialty.

Shredded cucumbers mixed with a spoonful of chili oil and vinegar—it was downright delicious.

With how hot it’s been lately, everyone loved cold noodles.

But seeing Feng Yanwen eating these often, Sister-in-law Qian worried it wasn’t nutritious enough. She came up with the idea of boiling chicken breast and serving it cold—just as delicious. The leftover chicken bones were used to make soup, with some blanched greens added.

When they got back, Sister-in-law Qian had just finished preparing the cold noodles. After eating, Xu Meng and Wei Xiang headed over to hang out with Chang Xi, and the three chatted about the day’s exams.

Chang Xi said, "I did okay in politics, but I blanked on a few key points in Chinese. I totally blanked when I walked in—what should I do?"

Xu Meng tried to sound calm. "That’s normal. I didn’t do well in politics either. Tomorrow’s math and English—want me to walk you through the English essay?"

Wei Xiang sighed in relief. "That sounds good. I’m too distracted to do anything else tonight."

Xu Meng suggested, "How about we go to Chang Xi’s place tonight and review together?"

Wei Xiang agreed, "Sure."

So they went to find Chang Xi.

Chang Xi was wiped out after a full day of testing and wasn’t in the mood to study.

But with Xu Meng leading the way, they started talking about English, and soon it didn’t seem so bad to keep going.

As the three girls got absorbed in their discussion, not even stopping for water, Chang Xi’s mother quietly brought in a plate of sliced watermelon and left without a word.

They continued chatting about the exams...

Earlier, Xu Meng had prepared templates for English essays, which the whole class now used. She had given one to Chang Xi, who also followed them. Essays were an easy way to score points—mastering this could add at least ten points. Other last-minute cramming might not help, so the three went over some common English essay templates together. By the time Feng Yanwen came to call them, it was already 10 p.m.

With exams the next day, they finally dispersed, heading home to wash up and sleep.

Chang Xi’s mother watched Xu Meng’s retreating figure, a small smile tugging at her lips.

Her daughter had made a good friend. Thanks to Xu Meng’s influence, Chang Xi had improved. Otherwise, with her passive personality—like a millstone that only moved when pushed—Chang Xi’s mother had almost considered pulling strings early to secure her a job. Nowadays, railway jobs were hard to come by—one in, one out. After working in the unit for so many years, she had just started making progress in her career. If Chang Xi took over now, everything would have to start from scratch.

Having Xu Meng around was a real blessing.

The three days of exams flew by, and on the day they finished, Wei Xiang's brother came to pick her up from school.

He had brought a large basket of fresh vegetables from home and first stopped by Changchun Alley.

Feng Yanwen looked at the basket full of tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, peppers, and other vegetables, and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as she thanked him. A month ago, when Wei Xiang mentioned staying at their place, the Wei family, not wanting to be a burden, had brought a large sack of flour. Since then, they had been sending over fresh produce every week. Even Feng Yanwen could feel how dearly the Wei family loved their daughter.

"You're too kind. We haven’t done anything special."

"Not at all. Over the past year, it’s all thanks to Xu Meng. Our girl used to be so shy, but now she comes home and tells us all about school. It’s all because of Xu Meng’s care."

Then, the two families went together to pick up the children from the exam site.

On the third day, there was only one exam, which ended at eleven.

By half past ten, the area outside was already packed with waiting parents. As soon as Xu Meng and Wei Xiang stepped out of the exam hall, they went over a few answers. Xu Meng was good at history, and it was clear Wei Xiang had gotten some questions wrong. She smacked her forehead in frustration.

"Oh no, I probably bombed history."

"It’s fine. That’s just how you are," Xu Meng said bluntly. "As long as you perform normally, you’ll definitely get into university."

"I just wonder what this year’s admission rate will be."

1991 was known as the year with the lowest admission rate since 1983, called the "Black July." The abysmal acceptance rate meant failing was common. Xu Meng paused for a moment, then smiled and asked, "So, are you going back to school to check the answers?"

Wei Xiang waved her hand. "There are schools in our county."

Their county was in the suburbs of the capital, and the best schools there weren’t great. She had tested into a school in the city.

Though she didn’t study in the county schools, many of her peers did, so getting the answer key shouldn’t be tough.

Usually, after exams, schools would organize teachers and students to review the answers to help students estimate their scores for college applications. Since applications were based on estimated scores, this step was crucial. Teachers also guided students in filling out their preferences, especially those who met the undergraduate cutoff—they often received one-on-one advice.

In her past life, Xu Meng had estimated her score 20 to 30 points higher than usual, making her less careful with her application. But no one had expected the admission rate to be so low that year, and many students got burned by their application choices. This time, Xu Meng was much more careful with her score estimation and reminded Wei Xiang, "Make sure to write down the answers as soon as you get home, so you don’t forget them later."

Fresh out of the exams, Wei Xiang didn’t want to talk about it anymore. She waved dismissively and said, "I see my brother—he’s with your mom and the others."

Then she hurried off toward him.

Xu Meng wasn’t in the mood to discuss exams either and happily headed home. First, they went out for a celebratory meal—roast duck, on Wang Shuanzhu’s dime.

The whole family enjoyed the meal, and Xu Meng decided to cut loose and enjoy herself for a while.

She could finally relax and get some proper rest.