"You're here for breakfast so early?" As they were talking, two figures suddenly appeared in the seats beside them.
"Why are you guys here too?" Zhang Xue asked curiously upon seeing the newcomers.
It was just past six o'clock, and normally Li Zhiwei and Feng Pangzi wouldn't get up unless they had classes, almost always arriving at the classroom just as the bell rang.
Feng Pangzi yawned, "Zhiwei said he had something to give to Chen Lishu."
Hearing this, Chen Lishu and Zhang Xue looked at Li Zhiwei curiously. He glanced around the surroundings, then mysteriously took out a triangle-shaped object wrapped in red cloth and handed it to Chen Lishu. "This is a talisman my mom specifically asked a master for when I took my college entrance exams. I finally found it last night. I'm telling you, it's incredibly effective. After I started wearing it, I really passed."
Zhang Xue couldn't help but laugh as she looked at the talisman. "Li Zhiwei, how old are you to believe in this stuff?"
Li Zhiwei glared at her. "What would a tomboy like you know?"
Regardless, it was Li Zhiwei's gesture, so Chen Lishu carefully put the talisman into her pocket. "Thank you. I'll return it to you this afternoon."
After the group finished eating, Chen Lishu parted ways with them and went to the school gate, where several fellow contestants were already gathered.
The competition venue wasn't at their own school but at the Engineering University. It wasn't far, just four stops away, so they decided to walk together.
Knowing that Jiang Yuwei's English results were outstanding, many people on the way surrounded her, wanting to discuss answering strategies.
However, she had always been quite aloof. If people talked ten sentences, her responding with one was already considered generous. After realizing they weren't getting much out of her, everyone gradually fell silent.
The Engineering University had specially allocated two large lecture halls for this competition. Over a hundred students from across the city participating in the college student English competition were divided between the two halls.
Besides being in the same hall as Jiang Yuwei, Chen Lishu also saw Ding Chen and his roommate Liu Yang in the examination hall, and their seats weren't too far apart.
After exchanging a distant greeting, teachers soon entered with exam papers and tape recorders.
When the students saw the tape recorders, their expressions instantly changed.
The presence of tape recorders meant there would definitely be listening comprehension sections, yet many people could do well on written tests but performed poorly in listening.
The classroom was soon filled with hushed discussions.
"There wasn't any listening comprehension in previous exams, was there? Why is there this time? I didn't prepare for it at all."
"Yeah, I even specifically asked the senior students. There's never been listening comprehension in past competitions."
"..."
"Everyone, please be quiet for a moment. Let me say a few words." The invigilator walked to the podium, placed the exam papers and the tape recorder on the desk, and then, looking at the gradually quieting students, recited the usual pre-exam rules.
Seeing that there was no reaction, they began distributing the exam papers.
Once the papers were in hand, everyone eagerly started looking at the questions. Upon seeing that the listening comprehension section was only worth ten points, they all breathed a sigh of relief. However, as they continued to scan further, their brows furrowed tightly.
Many obscure words appeared in the questions, and even the question formats had changed considerably compared to what they had encountered before. Such an exam paper directly disrupted the students' plans. Several people who had walked in with confident smiles now wore solemn expressions, their faces turning somewhat pale.
Some with poor mental fortitude had already decided to give up. After all, during the college entrance exams, they were allowed to bring dictionaries, but now they would likely have to rely purely on guessing.
Jiang Yuwei's delicate brows furrowed noticeably after receiving her paper. Soon, she looked up again at Chen Lishu, who was not far away. Seeing that she was also frowning, she felt slightly more at ease.
She figured that if the paper was difficult for her, Chen Lishu would surely find it even more troublesome.
The reason Chen Lishu was frowning was entirely due to the incredibly unbelievable luck she was experiencing, so much so that she began to wonder if Li Zhiwei's talisman had actually worked.
The reading comprehension and translation sections were taken from a postgraduate entrance exam preparation book she had only recently reviewed. Such a coincidence made her feel it was somewhat unreal.
Ding Chen and Liu Yang's first reaction after seeing the exam papers was to look at Chen Lishu. The difficulty of this paper was absolutely comparable to postgraduate entrance exams. Thinking about how Chen Lishu had specifically come to borrow postgraduate preparation materials, if they hadn't known that the questions were jointly compiled by various universities in the province and the exam was held at their own school, they would have almost thought someone had leaked the exam.
After distributing the papers, the invigilator began playing the listening comprehension. It ended ten minutes later, and everyone started answering the questions earnestly.
As the difficulty of the questions increased, the exam felt long and arduous.
Finally, the dismissal bell rang. Everyone handed in their papers, their dejected figures shuffling out of the classroom like frost-bitten eggplants.
"Sister Chen."
Just as Chen Lishu was about to return to school with everyone else, Ding Chen suddenly called out to her.
"It's this late; if you go back to eat, the cafeteria might not have much left. Why don't you eat at our school?"
Chen Lishu raised her hand and checked the time. It was indeed past eleven o'clock. Even if she took a bus back to school, it would be past twelve. So, she smiled and nodded, "Alright then."
The three of them headed to the school cafeteria. On the way, they encountered some of Ding Chen's classmates, who all curiously crowded around, teasing, "Ding Chen, your girlfriend?"
Ding Chen frowned and disgruntledly shooed them away. "Go on, don't talk nonsense. This is my sister."
Seeing that everyone had left, Ding Chen scratched his head apologetically towards Chen Lishu. "These guys are always joking around. Sister Chen, please don't mind them."
Chen Lishu smiled and shook her head. "It's fine."
"Sister Chen, I truly admire you. How did you think the difficulty of this competition would be increased? Ding Chen and I were a bit skeptical at first. We only casually flipped through the postgraduate materials, but after seeing the exam today, several questions feel somewhat familiar."
Liu Yang was now utterly impressed with Chen Lishu.
Chen Lishu smiled. "Actually, I was just guessing. After all, our cohort is the first batch after the restoration of the college entrance examination system. We were selected based on passing the score line. I estimated that the competition questions would also differ from previous years."
The three went to the cafeteria. Having eaten quite a bit in the morning, Chen Lishu wasn't very hungry. She only ordered a steamed bun and a bowl of soup.
After eating, she took a bus back to school.
"Yuwei, how was it? Were the questions relatively easy?" In the dormitory, Sun Ling asked curiously as Jiang Yuwei entered.
Jiang Yuwei glanced at the gazes cast by the others and said nonchalantly, "It was okay."
After all, questions she couldn't answer, others surely wouldn't be able to do either.
Hearing her words, Sun Ling's face lit up with a smug smile. Now, she just had to wait and see the person named Chen embarrass herself in front of the entire school! Zhang Xue was sitting at her bed, reading. Upon hearing their conversation, her heart skipped a beat. She couldn't focus on her book, her eyes constantly darting outside.
Finally, when she saw Chen Lishu's figure appear at the doorway, she eagerly got off her bed.