Student ID
Another day’s cla.s.ses had ended. Lin Xian Central High had let out.
One could see countless students walking out from the school building with bags on their backs as they left the campus one after another.
The only ones remaining in school were the teachers and students studying in the library…and some students being punished to stay after school.
In room 301 of Lin Xian Central High, Zhuge Meng Ming was cleaning the room as punishment. For the sake of eating dinner earlier, Huang Qiao Yi could only begrudgingly help him. When they looked out the window, they saw that the sun had already started to set.
When he thought of what happened during the test, Meng Ming asked as he gloomily swept the floor, “Little Qiao, the student called Qiu Min Ke should still be memorizing books in the teacher’s office, right?” Perhaps he thought that bringing up this matter would comfort him more as he did his own mandatory labor.
“Him? He probably went home ages ago.” Huang Qiao Yi replied, and did some calculations with her fingers, “If one memorizes that text for a week…memorizing 100 words or so per day is enough.”
That meant…Meng Ming’s punishment was even heavier than Qiu Min Ke’s?! Meng Ming was in such a bad mood that he stopped his actions, and even brandished the cleaning tools in his hand to express his resentment. Huang Qiao Yi was just going to say something, but she suddenly heard a familiar female voice from outside the door, “Oh? Why…why are you two still here?” The girl that spoke had just pa.s.sed by Cla.s.s A after school had let out, and by chance, discovered Meng Ming and Huang Qiao Yi.
The two of them turned around to see that the girl was indeed a student they recognized.
“It’s you! Sister Duan He.”
Because she wore light makeup on her face, the two of them had instantly recognized her. She was in Cla.s.s B, and was also the one that had taught Meng Ming some basic cheating knowledge the day the listings had been posted.
Meng Ming asked her, “Why hasn’t Sister Duan He gone home yet?”
“Please, don’t call me sister…my age isn’t necessarily greater than yours.” Duan He lifted her bag and entered Cla.s.s A, and casually said that she had stayed after to discuss something with some companions.
Companions? Meng Ming and Huang Qiao Yi stared at Duan He with wide eyes.
Duan He knew that Meng Ming was new, so she could only explain, “Where to start explaining…hm, C-types in the same test site sometimes need to work together. Those are ‘companions’. But aside from me, n.o.body else in Cla.s.s B is a C-type except for a male student that had come up from Lin Xian Central Junior High. Although he’s not very skilled, he’s quite a good person. He also knows that I’m a C-type, and took the initiative to talk to me…do you understand now?” After some simple explanation, she finally noticed the cleaning tools in their hands and asked, “…What’s up with you two? Did you guys get exposed? It’s sad that you have to clean the room personally…”
They could guess that if Duan He ever cleaned or did some kind of physical activity, she’d always just use her gaze to command male students to do it for her.
The whole story behind being punished to clean…was actually quite long. However, Huang Qiao Yi patiently explained the entire story from beginning to end for Duan He as she cleaned.
Duan He understood. She also knew that she had to continue to help Meng Ming hide his ident.i.ty as a C-type. Although she felt that it was troublesome, she still agreed. She also proposed the possibility that the newly enrolled bug user Qiu Min Ke already had already known Meng Ming was a C-type, and thus wanted to capture Meng Ming with that fact.
Meng Ming also felt that this was the case, and could only helplessly sigh. That Qiu Min Ke seemed to be impossible to work together with.
Duan He consoled Meng Ming and said, “Although there will be students like that…it’s clear to see from the entrance exam that his bug training isn’t anywhere close to perfect yet. He probably wouldn’t be of any use to you.”
“Right, right, I burned his paper.”
But in the end, you copied the wrong text and were punished more heavily… Huang Qiao Yi, who was helping clean, thought in a slightly bad mood.
Because Duan He had talked to them before, she knew that Meng Ming was the type of person that had extremely nimble fingers. But Meng Ming could only count as having a pretty good foundation; he didn’t actually have any skills he could use to cheat on tests. Thus, Duan He took the initiative to continue her conversation with him from last time, “Cla.s.smate Meng Ming, I remember reminding you that you need to prepare your own, characteristic cheating techniques. If you don’t have a customary set of skills to use, you’ll constantly face dangers like these without any countermeasures.”
The fundamental set of skills that Meng Ming had used could be said to have easily dealt with people like Qiu Min Ke. But if he took a test with more skilled C-types from other schools, it’d be hard for him to avoid any unexpected circ.u.mstances. Although Meng Ming knew this, he hadn’t really considered it. He had always believed that anything that happened would naturally have some kind of countermeasure, and he was extremely confident in himself.
“Meng Ming should also know that formidable C-types get really high grades. But I recently researched,” Duan He fished out a notebook from her bag and flipped it open. “In Lin Xian Central High’s first year Cla.s.s A, there aren’t any particularly powerful or malicious C-types, so Meng Ming is extremely lucky. There aren’t any in our Cla.s.s B either. In terms of strength, only I and the male student I mentioned earlier have any chance. Cla.s.ses C and D each have 3, 4 formidable C-types. That’s why, our midterm exam….”
“Midterm exam?” Meng Ming didn’t even know this.
The midterm exam was a test that checked a student’s grades once a semester at a set time. In Lin Xian Central High, the midterm exam and the final exam tested all subjects.
“In addition, the test site location and what students will be a.s.signed to each place during the senior high’s midterm exam won’t be told to us beforehand. During the midterm exam, the cla.s.ses normally aren’t mixed together. Students from the same cla.s.s will all go to the same test location, but there’s no knowing how the final exam will be arranged. They may mix up the entire cla.s.s, or maybe test us with students from other schools. Either way, if you encounter other C-types, you might be…besieged.” Duan He closed her notebook.
“Why?” Meng Ming asked in confusion, “Other C-types want to attack us?”
“Because every school is striving to raise their own academic rankings. Thus, there are attempts to lower other schools’ scores. The advancement rate for the college entrance exam is really important; to students, the reputation of the school they attend should be as high as possible.”
There were many opportunities to take the same exam with students from other schools. During the end of the term, there were unified exams by district and province. The district exams were the first term’s final exams every year. The entire district would take the same exam. The province unified exams were the second term’s final exams every year, and the entire province would take the same exam. Majority of the schools in China partic.i.p.ated in these types of unified exams. Also, these exams would always have a general ranking of all the students that attended the exams. Of course, this was something that wouldn’t occur until later in the future.
Originally, Meng Ming hadn’t thought of doing anything to his cla.s.s. He believed that properly protecting his own grades was good enough. But after the previous memorization test experience, he realized just how much enmity some C-types had.
“More importantly is the issue of student IDs.” Duan He told him.
“Student ID?” Meng Ming also didn’t understand this concept.
Huang Qiao Yi told Meng Ming that the student ID was a certification that verified his status as a student. Because students all studied very hard, there wasn’t any work more exhausting than being students. Thus, the certification stipulated that those with student IDs could enjoy many benefits. They could get large discounts when buying things, and enjoy various types of easy pa.s.ses. They could even certify locations for student societies. Although students were always exhausted in school, they were compensated quite well outside the school. That’s why the issuing of the student ID was an extremely strict process.
Duan He flipped her notebook open again and told Meng Ming and Huang Qiao Yi the most recent things she had discovered, “Lin Xian Central High’s student IDs require the school to first recognize that you are a qualified student before issuing you one. We have to hand in our scores from the first term’s midterm exam to get it! If your grades are bad, you won’t get one. Later on, if any of your term exam scores are too bad, the student ID can also be taken back!”
He hadn’t imagined that there would be such strict regulations on the student ID. Meng Ming finally realized just how special the occupation of a student was in China.
“The better the school’s reputation, the stronger positive effect it’ll have on getting the student ID…” Duan He pointed a finger and said in a matter-of-fact tone, “For the sake of improving the chances of getting a student ID, a C-type student will use any method, fair or foul.”
Huang Qiao Yi asked, “I heard that some places issue different student IDs for L-types and C-types. Is that true?”
Duan He pondered for a bit, then replied, “Lin Xian doesn’t do anything like that. But I heard there are some other places that have a C-type authentication test. Only strong enough C-types can partic.i.p.ate. It seems that if they pa.s.s the test, they can get a special C-type student ID. And using these ID, they can enter certain areas where only C-types are allowed…but that’s not important. The main point is the term exams. I must also properly think about it and make preparations…”
They continued to talk for a while, until the sky had already darkened quite a bit. Duan He finally turned around and waved a hand as she left the room, dropping one last sentence, “Good luck—— I mean with cleaning.”
They finally finished cleaning. Meng Ming dragged his exhausted body out of school. Huang Qiao Yi still had some energy left, and after closing the cla.s.sroom door, she caught up with Meng Ming, and they returned home together.
“Brother Meng Ming, will you be ok during the midterm exam?”
“I don’t know….”
Meng Ming didn’t know other students’ circ.u.mstances. He was still a newbie in the test site. His Cheating Technique was extremely nimble on a gambling table, but the situation of a test site was quite different.
Meng Ming thought, “Duan He uses hypnotism to control the test site. Qiu Min Ke trains bugs…that means that the two of them have the advantage of using the students or teacher in the test site. But what I use are skills with my hands. Although my fingers can protect me…I can’t sneak looks at other people’s papers…however, I clearly remember that the Cheating Technique has a technique to secretly look at the cards in other people’s hands…!”
Why hadn’t Meng Ming ever learned this set of skills?
His father had once warned him that looking at others’ cards at the gambling table required extremely high level skills. Meng Ming was still young, so he had to first firmly grasp the basics. Only then would he be able to protect his own cards and prevent others from noticing his fingers’ movements.
Troublesome father, if you had taught me that time, I would’ve been fine…
There was still quite a while until the midterm exam. Thus, Meng Ming didn’t pay it too much mind, and after eating dinner, he went off to copy homework.