Chapter 91

Zhou Cunren never could have imagined that Xie Tingyu would actually get a perfect score in mathematics.

His impression of Xie Tingyu still lingered on the notion that he was a student’s husband. The last time Shui’er had been falsely accused by the villagers of secretly going to the hospital for an abortion, it was this young man who tracked down the hospital.

That time, Zhou Cunren had already gotten a taste of the young man’s cunning — he was definitely not as harmless as he looked.

“This examinee shouldn’t be a fresh graduate, right…”

“So what if he isn’t?” another grading teacher said. “He got perfect scores in both math and chemistry!”

Just those two subjects already added up to 200 points — enough to cross the university admission line. Even if he did poorly in the other subjects, he’d still probably score another 100 in total, right?

If his total exceeded 300 points, he could apply to a good university — which, for a student from the countryside, was nothing short of a fish leaping over the dragon gate — a full transformation.

Educational resources were so scarce in rural areas; for a rural candidate to score this high, he must be one of those “sent-down youth” returning to reclaim urban household registration. That would already be quite a feat!

The teachers from the provincial capital schools all thought to themselves — and they felt their faces burn.

Perfect scores in math and chemistry, and neither belonged to one of their students!

They had been hoping their school would produce the province’s top scorer this year, starting things off on a good note.

After all, the school had spent three years painstakingly cultivating their students — yet they were outperformed by a “sent-down youth” who had spent years farming in the countryside. What a humiliation that was for the school!

“Found it — his physics score is ninety-five!” The teacher grading physics papers finally located Xie Tingyu’s test paper. Seeing that 95, his heart couldn’t help but surge with excitement.

This candidate wasn’t just good in math and chemistry — his physics score was also outstanding.

At that moment, the entire floor of grading teachers exploded into commotion. Everyone began searching for this candidate’s remaining two test papers.

If Xie Tingyu had only scored well in two subjects, the teachers from the capital might have been just a bit sour about it. But now that the third excellent score appeared — and it was that high — everyone was astonished.

This was no longer just about the provincial top scorer. This year… their province might actually produce a national top scorer!

“Find Xie Tingyu’s Chinese and politics test papers!” the head of the grading committee ordered steadily.

Though his expression was calm, his heart was racing; he flipped through the papers so hurriedly he nearly tore one. When he finally received Xie Tingyu’s Chinese and politics papers from another teacher, his eyes lit up and his voice trembled slightly:

“He must be the national top scorer…”

The handwriting was neat and elegant, the papers spotless, and the bright red scores stood out sharply.

Chinese: 90.

Politics: 93.

Five test papers were neatly spread out on the desk, and the room erupted in murmurs.

This was the very first year after the reinstatement of the national college entrance examination — and already, a student had scored this high?

Now that all of this candidate’s scores were known, the grading leader was ninety percent certain that he held the province’s top score.

Sometimes a few students scored high in one subject, but someone this consistently excellent across all subjects? Only him.

The other teachers were completely convinced — who on earth was this “rural” candidate? One perfect score would already be impressive enough, but he had two!

“Wait — don’t report the scores yet,” the leader said, restraining his excitement. “Double-check everything. If we make a mistake, our province will lose face big time.”

A group of teachers combed through the papers again and again, scrutinizing them with eyes sharper than X-rays.

They searched for the tiniest possible mistake — but in the end, they all looked at each other, finding none.

Instead, one Chinese teacher commented, “There’s no problem with the grading. If there’s any issue at all, it’s that his essay was scored too strictly — he could have earned two more points.”

The head of the Chinese group chuckled, “If the score’s correct, then we won’t change it. Adding two points on purpose would make it look like we’re showing favoritism. That’d be embarrassing if word got out.”

“Teacher Zhou, Xie Tingyu’s from your area, right? Do you know him?”

Zhou Cunren only knew two examinees from his region — and coincidentally, Xie Tingyu was one of them.

He nodded.

“What kind of person is he? How does he usually study?” another teacher asked.

That question stumped Zhou Cunren a bit. He thought hard — fortunately, Zhou Ke often went on and on about Xie Tingyu, otherwise Zhou Cunren wouldn’t have had much to say.

“He’s a very warm-hearted sent-down youth from the capital,” Zhou replied.

“Oh, from the capital!” everyone said in realization.

No wonder he did so well — the capital’s educational resources were far better than those in G Province. If Xie Tingyu had been a native of Ye Family Village, scoring two perfects and three near-perfects, that would’ve been monstrous.

Zhou continued, “His family has a strong academic background — his grandparents are senior intellectuals. I don’t know how he studies, but I heard he didn’t even study much before the exam; he was busy building biogas pits for the village…”

He didn’t study much?

And he was building biogas pits?

The teachers nearly blacked out.

The Chinese, politics, and especially physics graders all clutched their chests in anguish. “Why was he building biogas pits before the exam?”

“What were the village cadres doing — letting a student about to take such an important test get stuck doing that?”

The physics teacher felt heartbroken — the boy scored 95 without studying properly. If he had studied, wouldn’t that have been another perfect score?

The teachers, who had been burning the midnight oil for half a month grading papers, felt deeply frustrated.

The grading leader shook his head. “You can’t think like that. For him to score like this already shows great promise. Report the scores — this boy did remarkably well. Who knows, maybe this year’s national top scorer will be from our province.”

—

That afternoon, Teacher Xu from the examination bureau carried the full provincial results back to the office.

When he arrived, the gates were packed with reporters from the Provincial Daily , City News , Morning and Evening Times , and other media — all their cameras aimed at the bureau entrance, clicking wildly.

“Has G Province’s exam result been released yet?”

“We heard the grading finished yesterday and the first stage is done. Everyone’s dying to know the results — tell us…”

“Who’s the top scorer this year?”

Teacher Xu wiped his sweat and found he couldn’t even squeeze through the crowd.

He clutched the thin folder nervously — if the reporters discovered that the provincial top scorer was a double top scorer, would he even make it out alive?

Then someone shouted, “The exam bureau teacher’s back with the results! Let’s ask him!”

Teacher Xu hugged the folder tightly and backed away in fear.

—

After checking the admission line set by the middle school, Xie Tingyu and Ye Qingshui went to a state-run restaurant for a meal.

Zhou Tingting was too excited to eat. She just wanted to rush back to the educated youth station with the good news. She skipped the meal and took the bus straight to Ye Family Village.

When she got off the bus, she was stunned by the lively scene before her.

Ye Family Village — once known for its poverty and backwardness — now had several luxury cars parked at its entrance.

The village party secretary was excitedly shouting for people to buy firecrackers, and strings of red firecrackers crackled in the air. It was as lively as the Lunar New Year.

Zhou Tingting asked, “What happened?”

The women’s federation director said proudly, “You don’t know yet? Our village’s Educated Youth Xie got first place in the whole province!”

The village security captain chimed in, “Reporters are already here to interview him! They say he got two perfect scores — might even be the national top scorer!”

Times were tough — food, drink, and firecrackers were expensive — and no one had ever thrown a banquet or lit fireworks just because someone got into university.

But this time, it was different. This was the provincial top scorer! Even the poorest villagers were pitching in one or two yuan to celebrate with firecrackers and a feast.

This young man had really made them proud!

He hadn’t just brought electric light and heating to their village — he was even planning to build greenhouses for vegetables!

Even if he’d only been the county top scorer, the villagers would’ve celebrated!

The reporters, who had rushed all the way from the provincial capital, were now swarming the village like ants on a hot pan — exhausted, parched, and yet they couldn’t even find the person they came to see.

Annoyed but helpless, they finally settled for interviewing the top scorer’s family and neighbors at sunset.

But they were baffled by what they heard — the villagers were gushing.

“You’re asking about Educated Youth Xie? He’s such a good person — came here from the capital three years ago and often tutors our children.”

The party secretary said, “He cares so much about Ye Family Village — wrote letters to the city to ask for electricity. When that didn’t work, he built biogas pits himself. Now no one uses kerosene lamps anymore!”

An old man’s eyes grew red. “When the exam news came, he was still building those pits. We were so worried he’d fail… but we never expected this…”

The women’s director said earnestly, “This boy really made us proud. Honestly, we were worried he might not get in this year, and we’d already planned to recommend him as a worker-peasant-soldier student.”

“He’s handsome, well-off, humble — lots of girls like him!”

“When he got married, he even handed out wedding candy — such a generous boy.”

The reporters began to doubt life itself.

Was this an interview with a top scorer, or a model-citizen feature story? They wanted tales of struggle and perseverance — but this was all too wholesome!

They tried to steer back on track: “So, how did he usually study?”

The villagers shook their heads. “Study? Other educated youth carried books to work — but we never saw him study.”

“Yeah, he didn’t need to! He’d stay up all night tinkering with the biogas pit.”

“I even saw him biking to town with his wife!”

Reporters: “…”

—

And where was this elusive Xie Tingyu?

At that very moment, he was walking hand in hand with his wife, blissfully strolling down the street.

The winter roads were frozen solid, and when they reached a slippery patch, Ye Qingshui slowed down.

Remembering how easily she fell, Xie Tingyu stooped down and carried her on his back.

She hesitated at first, but eventually let him. Now that she was pregnant, she didn’t want to take risks.

His back was broad and warm. He asked softly, “Shui’er, which school and major do you want to apply for?”

She asked back, “What about you?”

“I’m thinking of applying to B University’s math department,” he said. “Why don’t you apply there too? You’re good at math.”

He thought it’d be easier to take care of her that way — and besides, he wasn’t about to let his lovely wife out of sight among all those science students.

But Ye Qingshui shook her head. “No, I want to apply for B University’s physics department.”

Both of them wanted pure science majors — and B University was top-tier in science.

“Brother Yu, you did especially well this time,” she said. “Let’s send a telegram to Grandma to put her mind at ease.”

She briefly summarized their exam results, including Xie Tingyu’s estimated scores, and handed the telegram form to the clerk, paying two extra yuan for express delivery.

“It’s getting dark — let’s head back to the village.”

The exams were over, the score lines were out, and post offices everywhere were jammed with students sending applications.

As the clerk encoded her message, the ink jar beside him was knocked over, staining half the telegram.

The original message said:

“Hello Grandma, the exams are over. Though we once worried Tingyu might not get into university, he actually did very well. Please don’t worry.”

But what got transmitted was:

“Hello Grandma, the exams are over… Tingyu didn’t get into university, but… Grandma, don’t worry.”

—

Half an hour later, in the capital, at Grandma Xie’s house.

She had guests over — lately everyone talked about the college entrance exam, and as an elderly lady, she couldn’t help but brag about her grandson.

“My child estimated over 400 points. The teacher says he’s got a real shot at Tsinghua or Peking University!” one guest said proudly.

Everyone exclaimed in admiration — 400 points! That would rank top three in the city.

Once, that kind of honor had belonged to Grandma Xie.

But now, with her grandson far away, she didn’t know his situation, so she could only listen quietly.

To make things worse, another guest — Grandma Zhou — said meaningfully, “My grandson also went to the countryside, but thank goodness he came back early. He studied hard instead of getting distracted by some country girl.”

After chatting for a while, someone finally asked, “Old Madam Xie, how did your grandson Tingyu do? He must’ve done very well too?”

They said it politely, but none of them truly believed it.

After all, once a man got married, he changed — and Xie Tingyu had spent two years in the countryside. How could he still compete with students in the city?

Just then, the telegram arrived.

The guests peered at it first — and saw only a few short lines: the words “Tingyu didn’t get into university” stood out clearly.

They exchanged awkward glances.

“Don’t be sad, Yan Chun,” one said. “Tingyu’s got a solid foundation. If he studies another year, he’ll definitely get in.”

Grandma Zhou added disdainfully, “See? I told you to bring him back sooner. First he married some country girl, now he’s even ruined his exams.”

Grandma Xie stared at the telegram for a moment. Though surprised, she was old enough not to let emotion show.

She calmly folded it and said evenly, “My grandson is modest. Don’t take it too seriously.”

Tingyu didn’t get into university?

The only way that could happen was if both his legs were broken and he couldn’t even sit for the exam.

She knew her grandson’s ability better than anyone — which only made her more worried that something might have happened to him.

Once her guests left, she immediately sent a telegram to the countryside to ask what had happened.

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