If flowers bloom, youth will naturally follow.

Xiao Pang's test center happened to be at No. 1 Middle School, which saved him the trouble of scouting the location. After the group finished eating, Xiao Pang and his companion stayed at a guesthouse not far away.

The next morning, after three days of being nourished by love, the energetic and chubby top student strode confidently into the examination hall, carrying the hopes of the entire village.

The gate was tightly closed, and a group of parents waited outside. Those who managed to get some shade were fine, but those who couldn't and didn't want to leave had to wait in the sun. Time ticked by, and every minute was agonizing for them as they eagerly awaited their children's triumphant return.

As the bell rang, the candidates surged out like a torrent, their expressions almost identical: furrowed brows and utterly dejected.

The crowd was surging, and Qiao Tianyi couldn't see Xiao Pang. Looking around, she saw disappointed faces and found it somewhat amusing. Sure enough, this place hadn't produced a 985 university student in years, and it seemed that most of them had been burned out.

"Brother Tianyi!" Little Fatty spotted Qiao Tianyi immediately, because he was still standing where he had left. "Why aren't you waiting in the car? What are you doing standing here in this heat?"

The smug look on Xiao Pang's face was gone, replaced by a puzzled expression. Qiao Tianyi's heart sank: "It's nothing, I was on the bus just now. What's wrong? Did you not do well on the test?"

Little Fatty frowned and said dejectedly, "This Chinese test is not right. There are very few knowledge points that I usually review, and too many subjective questions. I don't think I can get 110 points."

Qiao Tianyi felt a little relieved, but said to her, "It's okay, 110 is fine. You can pull up your score in math, physics and chemistry. And this time, it's probably not just you who finds Chinese difficult. Look at them, none of them are happy."

Little Fatty looked around and indeed, the other students looked much more embarrassed than he did; some had even started crying.

……

The afternoon class was math, the subject Qiao Tianyi was most confident in regarding Xiao Pang's abilities. He had even more confidence in Xiao Pang's math than in his own. However, the scene of everyone's dark faces in the morning gave him a vague sense of unease.

While anxiously waiting, the bell rang and the candidates were allowed to leave. The atmosphere was even more oppressive than in the morning. Many children cried when they saw their parents. Qiao Tianyi heard a boy crying loudly not far away: "Mom, I'm sorry, I'm doomed. I didn't even get more than half of the questions right."

The surrounding noise all converged into one voice: "The questions are too difficult, we can't answer them at all." Qiao Tianyi finally sensed something was amiss. It was impossible that so many people were bad at math and Chinese; there must be something wrong with the test!

He craned his neck to look, and the chubby boy walked over slowly, head bowed in thought.

"Little Bao'er," Qiao Tianyi looked at the chubby boy with concern.

"Let's go, Brother Tianyi, let's talk when we get back," Little Fatty said, his brows furrowed and his voice sounding as if his bones had been removed, lacking any vitality.

Qiao Tianyi's heart sank. Oh no, Xiao Bao'er didn't do well on the math test either.

Once they got to the guesthouse room, Little Fatty finally came to his senses: "Brother Tianyi, something's not right. This test is weird."

Xiaopang's Chinese is only "good", but her math is "excellent". She can't tell what's wrong with her Chinese, but she can tell what's wrong with her math: "This test paper requires too much comprehensive ability, and the calculation and thinking difficulty of solid geometry and sequence problems far exceed the level of high school students."

"I feel this question is about the same level as the Olympiad math," Xiao Pang said with a bitter smile. "I probably messed up this time. I only got 127 points in math. That's it. I can't get into Peking University. I can only apply to Beijing Normal University."

The Chinese language score has already dragged down the overall score, and math, which is supposed to improve the score, has also dragged it down. Based on the previous years' cut-off scores, there is no hope for Peking University.

"Not necessarily," Qiao Tianyi thought to herself with doubt. "If you find it difficult with your level of math skills, then others will only find it more difficult."

He took out his laptop and searched online. Sure enough, less than half an hour after the exam ended, the internet was already filled with groans and resentment.

"Was this a question set by a human being?"

"Are you trying to prevent people from going to college? My teacher said he wouldn't even pass this test!"

"Incredible! I'm waiting online, is there any math genius out there who can step forward so I can admire them?"

……