NOVEL NEXT C42
Chapter 42: The Century Examination Hall
The day that would determine the fate of millions of examinees in China had finally arrived.
Yuyin lived just on the street behind the school, Wei Ming South Road, and before the sky was fully bright, she arrived at school. Although she slept well, she woke up early today. However, many classmates had already gathered on campus.
The morning light began to appear, and the sky was slightly blue with mist.
“President.” Sure enough, Ying Luo arrived even earlier than her. Although there was no strict requirement today, she, like Yuyin, wore her school uniform, carrying a backpack with an examination talisman hanging from it. Xu Weiwei also arrived and walked over with Yuyin.
“Ying Luo, Weiwei.” Yuyin smiled slightly, illuminated by the morning breeze.
“Wow, President, you seem quite confident!” Weiwei boldly stared at Yuyin’s tightly buttoned chest.
“Yuyin, I’m a bit nervous.” Ying Luo walked up to Yuyin, holding her arm gently, her body lightly brushing against Yuyin’s, seeking some support.
“Everyone, don’t be nervous. Just take the exam as you normally would; don’t overthink it.” Yuyin reassured them, as she indeed had a confidence that was hard for ordinary people to imagine.
As the sky brightened, more and more students gathered.
At that moment, from Class Two, Long Xiaotian walked over with his hands in his pockets.
Facing Yuyin, who was taller than him, he didn’t look up; Long Xiaotian never looked at people when he spoke.
“Xia Yuyin, I hope you haven’t forgotten what I said that day.”
“…” Long Xiaotian suddenly said this, and Yuyin didn’t know how to respond.
As he spoke, Long Xiaotian’s gaze swept past Yuyin’s chest, and he turned to leave.
“Good luck.” He suddenly lowered his head and said softly. However, his voice was too low for Yuyin to hear; otherwise, she would have politely wished him well in return.
At this moment, the bus had also arrived.
The homeroom teacher, wearing a vibrant “Victory” T-shirt, ran down from the bus.
“Students, today we will head to the Century Sports Stadium to conduct the source energy assessment together with three other high schools. Everyone, get ready to board the bus and check once more to see if you have your admission ticket.”
The students from Class One lined up to board the first bus, and Yuyin and Ying Luo took seats at the back.
“Ah!”
Suddenly, a startled voice came from the back of the bus, “My admission ticket!”
It startled Teacher Xie as well.
“Isn’t your admission ticket hanging around your neck?” Ying Luo, sitting by the aisle, said casually without even turning to look.
“Ah!”
Yuyin helplessly shook her head as she looked out the window. The bus had slowly started moving, and she thought, “Xiao Huohuo, I hope you do well on the exam too.”
As the bus exited the school gate, Yuyin noticed a large number of parents waiting there.
“Go for it! Go for it!”
Parents eagerly gazed through the bus windows, trying to catch a glimpse of their children.
Many parents couldn’t help but follow the bus as it drove away.
“Ningning, remember to eat the cake!”
Even after the bus had driven far along the main road, the parents still gathered there, staring in the direction of the bus, unwilling to leave.
“Good luck on the college entrance exam!”
Yuyin’s feelings became somewhat complicated. She couldn’t help but wonder how her parents in her original world were doing. If they were here, would they also come to see her off? And her mother in this life had gone to Africa and had not been heard from since.
“Yuyin, you can do it,” Yuyin silently encouraged herself.
……
The bus passed through the Pujiang Tunnel and drove along the wide Century Road, arriving at the Century Stadium located near a large central park in the city.
Yuyin noticed that several other school buses had already arrived.
“That’s the 39th Middle School from the western suburbs. As expected, the farther away, the earlier they arrive,” a chubby boy with glasses said, looking out the window.
“39th Middle School? Isn’t that one of the top schools in terms of college admission rates among regular high schools?”
“Yeah… although it’s located in the suburbs, their school seems to be much better than ours.”
Once the bus stopped, Yuyin and her classmates got off in order, each class led by their homeroom teacher.
At that moment, more colorful buses drove in.
“Wow, all imported Mercedes buses?”
“That’s… Dongfang International School!”
When those buses stopped, half of the students who got off were foreign students with blonde hair and blue eyes or dark skin. Even the Chinese students were lively, chatting and laughing in fluent English with their foreign classmates.
“These people…” Yuyin didn’t care much about English, but her high source energy made her perception sharper. From a distance, she could sense that the tall, active Black students and the blonde, gentlemanly white boys had excellent physical fitness and abundant source energy, far exceeding that of typical high school students.
“Dongfang International School is a well-known foreign-related high school, specifically recruiting the children of foreign executives and domestic elites. I’ve heard the tuition starts at 500,000 a year,” Ying Luo explained to Yuyin, noticing her unfamiliarity with the school.
“Hello! College entrance exam!”
“Hey, you’re really beautiful, Chinese girl.”
The students from the international school were very open, whistling and greeting Yuyin as they walked by in a loose line, completely unfazed by the pressure of the college entrance exam, as if they possessed an innate sense of superiority.
This only intensified the pressure on the students from the 21st Middle School.
“I mean, Thomas, why are you flirting with someone in the exam hall? She doesn’t even know you,” a tall blonde boy joked, playfully pushing the tall Black boy.
“It’s okay, when the exam results are announced, she’ll know me,” the Black boy replied, turning back to Yuyin with a wink and making an inappropriate gesture.
Yuyin pretended not to see. Although these people had strong foundational qualities, they were no different to her.
At this moment, under the guidance of the exam proctor, everyone began to line up to enter the stadium.
“Students, stay calm, cool, bold, and attentive. The teachers are waiting for your good news,” Teacher Xie encouraged repeatedly, as she could not enter.
At the entrance of the stadium, there were indeed armed forces in heavy camouflage gear guarding the entrance. The college entrance exam was a matter of national importance.
These source martial arts examinees were the future of the country, the future of the nation!
As Yuyin and her classmates entered the stadium, they found that part of the audience seating in the center had been removed to build a large platform, with several huge screens behind it.
The source martial arts college entrance exam had no open-book or closed-book format, striving for fairness, openness, and transparency.
Yuyin noticed that a long row of equipment was lined up on the large platform, and it seemed that the examinees would take turns stepping onto that high platform to undergo source energy testing.
The three schools lined up according to their respective school and class signs.
“Hey? Didn’t they say there were four schools?” Xiao Huohuo, who was tall, looked around anxiously, “Why are only three here?”
Yuyin checked her phone; the exam time was approaching, and at this time, they shouldn’t be late, right?
“Look, over there!”
Someone in the crowd of examinees shouted, and a police car with flashing lights drove through, followed by a row of dark green military buses that drove directly into the stadium.
“What school is this?” Xiao Huohuo exclaimed in surprise.
These dark green buses had tinted windows, making it hard to see inside, but on the side of each bus, it was clearly written:
“Zero Capital Academy Affiliated High School · Century Campus.”