Chapter 37:

The three of them were chatting in a corner of the Revolutionary Committee, while in the courtyard, the examinees waited anxiously, some even holding their children as they came to check their results. Fortunately, Yang Yushan had water brought over in time, which eased much of the tension among the crowd.

Some of the candidates knew Liu Yimin. Among his peers, most chose to take the college entrance exam, even those who already had jobs wanted to try their luck. Especially those with three years of work experience—if they got into university, they could continue to draw their salaries. Who wouldn’t want that?

But what puzzled them was how Liu Yimin ended up chatting with the head of the Revolutionary Committee. They remembered when Liu Yimin first started junior high; he couldn’t even afford to buy vegetables for his meals. Only after his elder brother, Liu Yiguo, became a worker did Liu Yimin’s situation improve.

Even so, his patched clothes stretched from thigh to ankle, and he always seemed embarrassed when talking to others.

They’d never heard of him having any connections with the head of the Revolutionary Committee.

The news spread slowly; many still didn’t know that this Liu Yimin was the writer Liu Yimin.

Yang Yushan was somewhat absent-minded during the conversation, his eyes frequently darting to the doorway. As nine o’clock approached, his heart pounded—could Run County be at the bottom among all the counties again this year?

The key thing was, his own daughter was also sitting for the exam this year, but she’d been too scared to come check her results today.

Suddenly, someone shouted, “The car’s here!” and the crowd immediately grew restless. Yang Yushan hurried toward the entrance, staff from the Revolutionary Committee building close behind. But there were too many people; it was impossible to squeeze through.

Soon, however, the crowd parted to make way for a jeep and a military-green three-wheeled vehicle. In the lead, the three-wheeler carried a police officer and two Red Armband militia, all armed. The jeep carried admissions office staff and two more police officers.

“Director Yang, your county is going to make a splash this year!”

“Make a splash? My friend, don’t tease me. I’ll be lucky if I don’t embarrass myself,” Yang Yushan replied, his face darkening, thinking the other was mocking him.

After the handover with the Revolutionary Committee’s education office, they prepared to distribute the results.

First, staff posted this year’s admission cut-off scores on the committee’s main door: 262 for liberal arts, 248 for sciences. The announcement immediately sparked heated discussion. In the 1977 admissions, age-based thresholds were still used, but this year it was one standard for all.

Older candidates were naturally pleased, since last year those over twenty-five had to score nearly a hundred points higher.

As people started collecting their results, an admissions office staffer threw an arm around Yang Yushan’s shoulder and laughed:

“You owe me a meal! Let me tip you off—a student from your county took first place in the region for liberal arts. Since it’s hard to exchange scores between regions and the provincial office is keeping quiet, we actually think this score might be first in the entire province!”

Yang Yushan’s heart skipped a beat, and he asked instinctively, “Who?”

Coming to his senses, he found it hard to believe. “We’ve been comrades for years, and you’re going to joke with me now? If we have just a dozen admitted this year, I’ll consider it a success!”

“Still don’t believe me? The score sheet’s in the file; I set it aside especially. I’ll get it for you!” The staff member shot him a look and retrieved it from the car.

Yang Yushan hurriedly took it, fumbling to open the file—never had the string around the file seemed so annoying; he wanted to rip it open.

“Comrade Liu Yimin…”

There was a long description after the name, but Yang Yushan didn’t bother to read it; he went straight to the scores and muttered to himself, “Chinese 92, Math 91, Politics 85, History 90, Geography 93, English 51. Total (excluding English): 451!”

He read it several times in disbelief, then looked up and asked, “Old Yu, are you sure there’s no mistake? Was the test easy this year?”

“Easy? Apart from this one, your county only had about thirty pass the line in both liberal arts and sciences combined, most just around 300. Plus those who messed up their applications—if twenty get into university, you’re lucky. Your county is relying entirely on this score of 451. You’ve really lucked out; thanks to this one, you’re ahead of the other counties!” Old Yu snorted, then sighed.

“Hahaha! See, Old Yu, this isn’t luck—it’s the result of the Revolutionary Committee and the candidates working together!” Yang Yushan laughed heartily, no longer caring about Old Yu, and ran to the front of the waiting crowd, forgetting his role as committee director. He shouted at the top of his lungs, “Our county has the top liberal arts scorer! Four hundred and fifty-one points! Where is Comrade Liu Yimin? Where is Comrade Liu Yimin?”

Yang Yushan’s face was flushed, veins bulging at his temples.

The crowd erupted like boiling water, everyone craning their necks, searching for Liu Yimin.

Liu Yimin prepared to step forward, but others nearby also moved; Old Zhang quickly grabbed his arm and whispered, “They’re calling Liu Yimin!”

“Old Zhang, I am Liu Yimin!”

Afraid Liu Yimin would embarrass himself, Old Zhang held on, as several others named Liu Yimin had already rushed forward.

“They’re also called Liu Yimin. Could it be a case of duplicate names? Considering your score last year…” Old Zhang didn’t finish his thought, not wanting to be too harsh.

“Come on, Old Zhang, let go—it’s definitely me. I didn’t even sit the exam last year.” Liu Yimin smiled helplessly, prying Old Zhang’s hand from his arm. Sometimes, people really do laugh when they have nothing to say.

“Ah!” Old Zhang was stunned, not understanding what he meant by not sitting the exam, but he followed Liu Yimin anyway.

Yang Yushan looked at the three spirited “Liu Yimins” standing before him, and the real Liu Yimin, the writer. Hastily, he read out the exam admission number. When he finished, the other three left dejectedly, having to return to the end of the line.

“Yimin? It’s really you?”

“Director Yang, it’s me, no mistake—here’s my admission ticket!” Liu Yimin handed it over.

“It really is you! It really is! Last year you didn’t…” Yang Yushan nearly roared.

Liu Yimin sighed and explained, “Director Yang, due to some circumstances last year, I couldn’t enter the exam hall.”

“So that’s it! I thought so!” Yang Yushan then thumped Liu Yimin’s chest. “Good lad, you’ve really brought honor to our county! Do you know? You might even be first in the whole province! The county will give you a big red flower, commend you, have you give a speech, send you off to university with drums and gongs, give you a monthly pass…”

He rambled on, forgetting even to check his own daughter’s results.

On the roof of the cultural center’s bungalow, a few people watched the commotion in the courtyard below but couldn’t hear clearly. They saw Old Zhang hugging Liu Yimin, and Old Li said reflexively, “What’s Old Zhang doing?”

“Maybe Yimin didn’t do well and is upset—Old Zhang’s trying to stop him from doing anything rash?”

“Looks like it!”