Xie Qian scored 745 in the gaokao, and Wen Ying was not surprised at all.
But to call 745 a “failure” felt to Wen Ying like pure Versailles. Yet Xie Qian wasn’t Old Wen, how could he possibly show off like that?
Xie Qian is a perfectionist who sets impossibly high standards for himself. He genuinely saw that one lost mark in English as a serious mistake!
Wen Ying wanted to comfort him, but the words simply wouldn’t come out.
After holding it in for ages, she finally said weakly, “Even if English deducted one more point, 745 is still the highest score in the whole country, right?”
Regardless of whether provinces used the national paper or their own, and no matter the total possible marks, losing only five points across all subjects meant Wen Ying was pretty sure Xie Qian would rank first nationally in science.
As far as she knew, in all the years the gaokao system had existed in China, only one candidate from southern Henan Province had ever achieved a perfect 750, and that was back in 2000.
Every other exam god had been like Xie Qian: infinitely close to perfection, yet still a tiny step short.
How on earth do you score 750?
Wen Ying had no idea.
Even if she were reborn ten more times, she still couldn’t do it. Among everyone she knew, Xie Qian was already the most impressive. His 745 was a raw score with no competition bonus points whatsoever.
Throughout senior high, the school had repeatedly tried to get Xie Qian to enter competitions, and every time he refused.
Competitions required closed training camps.
And running around all over the place.
The thought of being away from school for long periods killed any interest Xie Qian might have had.
He no longer needed competition medals to decorate his résumé.
So why was he unhappy now?
Probably the perfectionist streak kicking in, fighting with himself again!
Yet when Wen Ying started throwing out phrases like “highest score” and “most impressive” one after another, the awkward perfectionist Xie was instantly cured. “I don’t know if it’s the absolute highest, but never mind my score for now. I haven’t congratulated you yet!”
Xie Qian had waited and waited for Wen Ying to call with good news. In the end he couldn’t wait any longer, checked her score himself, and of course knew she got 671.
For Wen Ying, that score was outstanding.
The teachers at the provincial key school estimated that this year no one in the province would break 700; 671 should easily place in the top 50 province-wide!
“Congratulations all round! I never thought I’d do this well… Thank you so much. Without your tutoring, I wouldn’t have improved this much!”
Wen Ying thanked him, and Xie Qian’s heart melted into a puddle.
He was the one who should be thanking his little hamster!
After Xie Yuping met Wen Ying, Xie Qian had a private chat with Xie Yuping.
From his uncle, Xie Qian finally confirmed his long-held suspicions and learned exactly what Wen Ying had said to his mother Zou Weijun during their first meeting.
Wen Ying had made up a story to jolt Zou Weijun out of her despair. When Xie Qian heard it, he was deeply moved. If everything he cared about in this world had disappeared, with the personality he used to have, he really might have “ended things himself”.
Of course, that would only happen if he lost his mother.
Lost the Xie family.
And had no enemies left.
Only when all love and hate were extinguished would he choose to “free himself”.
You had to hand it to Wen Ying; the lie she invented really did match his mindset at the time, which was why his mother had been so terrified!
Now Xie Qian’s thinking had completely changed. Enemies could disappear, but he had to stay alive and well, because his hamster wanted him to live to a hundred.
A spring of warmth rippled through Xie Qian’s heart.
“This is what you earned. Every paper you did paid off… Although you and Li Mengjiao often secretly call me the Paper King behind my back, I’m magnanimous and won’t hold it against you!”
Pfft.
He claimed not to hold grudges, yet deliberately brought it up. Some magnanimity!
Feeling a gaze fixed on her, Wen Ying realised this phone call with Xie Qian might have gone on too long. She coughed awkwardly. “Alright, alright. Apart from asking your score, I also wanted to tell you Peng Guoqing got 539 and Li Mengjiao got 582. It’s late. I’ll head to school tomorrow to fill in my choices, then we can talk properly!”
Xie Qian had actually been waiting up just for this call; otherwise he’d have gone to bed ages ago. He cheerfully said goodnight.
After hanging up, Wen Ying discovered Chen Ru staring at her with burning eyes. Wen Ying pretended to be calm. “Xie Qian got 745 and he’s still a bit dissatisfied. If I scored that well, I’d be laughing myself to death!”
745 really is incredible!
Even Chen Ru had to admit that apart from being ridiculously good-looking, Xie Qian’s brain was every bit as impressive as his face.
Wen Dongrong happened to emerge from the study after finishing his “heart-to-heart” with Deng Shangwei and gave a little humph. “You got 671, which is already excellent. If you scored 745 and still refused to apply to Huaqing or Jingda, I’d be even more upset!”
Hmph.
Xie Qian scored 745 and still wasn’t applying to Huaqing or Jingda either, yet the Xie family hadn’t dropped dead from anger!
Wen Ying had already figured it out: Xie Qian wasn’t staying in China just to protect Zou Weijun or for the family businesses in Shanghai. Part of the reason was that Wen Ying had chosen Shanghai first. The young man’s feelings were hidden beneath layers of rational excuses; the surface of the lake was calm, but beneath it raged a torrent.
For once Wen Ying didn’t argue with Old Wen. She just yawned. “Ugh, I’m not debating this with you. I’m sleepy. Going to bed!”
It really was late.
Chen Li and Deng Shangwei had been able to come over so quickly because they lived in the same estate.
Apart from Old Li who blindly walked into the firing line, the happy news of Wen Ying’s 671 would be shared with other relatives and friends tomorrow.
Watching Wen Ying slip into her room, Wen Dongrong muttered, “What’s the rush? She didn’t even wait to hear what her ‘graduation present’ is…”
…
The next morning, before Wen Ying even left for school, the local morning news announced this year’s cut-off lines.
Sichuan Province science first-tier line was exactly as she remembered: 533!
When Wen Ying opened QQ on her phone, a flood of messages popped up, almost all asking her score.
She skimmed through and first replied to Song Shao.
“Did pretty well, 671. Class monitor, if you’d taken the gaokao you’d definitely have beaten me.”
That’s right: Song Shao hadn’t sat this year’s gaokao and hadn’t gone straight abroad either.
Same as her previous life.
Back when Wen Ying was still frantically doing practice papers in the classroom, Song Shao had already secured early admission to a top university through competition results!
The only tiny difference from her previous life was that last time he was admitted to Huaqing and only went abroad after finishing his undergraduate degree there. This time he had been admitted to Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Song Shao was probably offline; he didn’t reply immediately.
Wen Ying first checked Class 16’s group chat to see everyone’s scores, then accidentally opened their old junior-high class group when exiting.
She never spoke in that group and usually ignored it.
These days it wasn’t Wen Ying who couldn’t leave her junior-high classmates; it was some of them who didn’t want her to leave the chat. Occasionally someone would message her privately, and she’d reply when she had time.
She no longer held grudges about the past; her life had simply become too wonderful, and she had nothing in common with them anymore.
Her old junior-high form teacher Kang was genuinely fond of her. On impulse, Wen Ying rang Teacher Kang.
When Teacher Kang heard 671, she exclaimed “Good!” several times!
“Back in junior high it wasn’t obvious, but looking now, you and Song Shao were the best students in the whole class…”
They chatted for a bit, then Teacher Kang suddenly mentioned Yue Shanni and the others. “Do you still keep in touch?”
“Not really. Yue Shanni once asked to borrow money and we had an unpleasant falling-out. The older you get, the clearer you become about what kind of friends you need. We’re not the same kind of people, so we just stopped contacting each other.”
In front of Teacher Kang, Wen Ying didn’t pretend to be magnanimous.
She was sure Teacher Kang would understand!
Sure enough, Teacher Kang didn’t criticise. “You did the right thing. We don’t need no friends; we need good friends and mentors. Friends who help you improve: make as many as you can. Friends who drag you down… those aren’t proper friends. The moment you spot the warning signs, run as far away as possible!”
Wen Ying laughed at the description. “Why bring them up all of a sudden?”
Teacher Kang had no ulterior motive; she was just speaking from the heart. “I still remember how close you all were in junior high. You had the best grades, followed by Fang Hui. Three years later, your grades have soared, but Fang Hui’s have steadily dropped. In Year 10 she was still on track for first-tier, by Year 11 she wasn’t, and now her gaokao score is out: she didn’t even reach the third-tier line. She’ll either repeat or go to a vocational college.”
Huh? Fang Hui didn’t even make undergraduate?
That was different from her previous life.
Last time Fang Hui got into a proper undergraduate programme, returned home after graduation, and later passed the civil-service exam.
Was her rebirth the reason Fang Hui’s path had shifted?
When people like Xie Qian, Li Mengjiao, and Wang Shuang changed trajectories, Wen Ying thought it perfectly normal; they spent nearly every day together, so of course things would change.
But Fang Hui? Wen Ying barely interacted with her.
Apart from the Yue Shanni incident, the only contact was Fang Hui accusing Wen Ying of being petty on QQ.
Oh, and Manager Chen and Old Wen going to their homes and forcing Fang Hui, Yue Shanni, and the others to apologise in person.
Just those two brief encounters, and Fang Hui dropped from undergraduate to vocational?
Wen Ying proactively asked about the others. “What about Ma Lingling and Liu Yan?”
“Ma Lingling never cared about studying. She scored just over 300 this year, not even enough for the vocational line!”
Teacher Kang got angry just talking about Ma Lingling.
From junior high to senior high, Ma Lingling had always been a poor student.
The difference was that other weak students might daydream, nap, chat, or read novels in class; Ma Lingling’s passion was staring at herself in the mirror.
What was so fascinating about a mirror?
Even if Ma Lingling had been some stunning beauty (which she wasn’t), she didn’t need to be that obsessed with her own reflection!
Not only Teacher Kang, but classmates too found it unbearable and nicknamed her “Ma Narcissus”.
Wen Ying felt a little relieved.
It seemed Ma Lingling’s fate hadn’t changed: vocational college, becoming a plastic-surgery addict, pretending to be a rich heiress while selling knock-off cosmetics on WeChat, and most likely ending up in court for selling counterfeit goods… Well, last lifetime Wen Ying hadn’t helped when she was a lawyer, and this lifetime she definitely wouldn’t.
As for Liu Yan of the plastic-friendship trio, Teacher Kang said she reached the second-tier line.
“Compared to you it’s miles off, but relative to her usual performance she did well.”
So Liu Yan’s fate was unchanged too.
She’d probably still go to university in Beijing, snag a top-2 engineering guy during college, marry right after graduation, then follow her husband abroad to settle down.
Good, good. Among the plastic friends, only Fang Hui had slightly derailed. Otherwise Wen Ying would suspect her rebirth wasn’t a gentle butterfly flapping its wings but a full-blown hurricane that could shift global economics with a stomp. Don’t ask; it’s just an author’s wild imagination running away with her!
Wen Ying didn’t ask about Yue Shanni, but Teacher Kang brought her up anyway. “…She actually surprised me quite a bit!”
