Quiz 60: Literature, History, Philosophy
Lin Xian River, a river with its source in the city, was a tributary from some larger river. It wasn’t very wide, and had a gentle flow. Lin Xian River flowed through quite a few small towns, obviously including Lin Xian and Kui Yuan. Since ancient times, there had to be towers in any area with a river to suppress river monsters. Old Xian’s Twin Towers, in the western part of Lin Xian, was different from the other towns’ river towers. Like its name suggested, it had two towers that stood next to each other on Lin Xian River’s east bank.
As for the construction of the towers, n.o.body really knew whether it was because there was a mutant, two-headed, two-necked monster in the Lin Xian River’s legends, or because it was making fun of the whole ‘immortals driving away evil spirits’ concept.
This final exam pitted the first years of Lin Xian Central High vs the first years of Kui Yuan Central High.
“You’re not going to go check out the exam site? A lot of people already went!” A random cla.s.smate shouted at the room Meng Ming and the others were staying in, then turned to run away.
The first exam started at 2:30 pm. Lin Xian’s students had all already settled down in their dorms. Just as Huang Qiao Yi had said, this place wasn’t a true old town. There were quite a few well-developed, business-type locations, such as a supermarket, an information stand, and more. They still had some free time before the afternoon rolled around. A few people, that had grown tired of reading, had gone to see the square, while the majority of them were still studying as if their lives were on the line.
“Going to see the exam site now is pointless,” Zhou Lun Yu said from where he sat in the room.
“Mm, especially since they probably haven’t unsealed it yet.” Meng Ming felt the same way. Going now meant just looking at the main gates and the outside of the area. They couldn’t enter yet.
At this moment, an old man in casual dress walked into their room to give them some things. These were some everyday items that the school had asked the Twin Towers’ staff to prepare.
“Thank you,” Meng Ming expressed his grat.i.tude. He accepted the bag, while raising his head to look at the old man’s face.
The aged face gave a strange feeling of time flying by.
“Grandfather, how old are you?” He asked.
“Ah, I’m 83 years old,” the old man replied. Although he spoke very slowly, one could tell from his voice that his body was still healthy. After replying, the old man continued to walk towards the other rooms.
Strange…judging from his body, I keep getting the feeling that he’s not just 83 years old. Meng Ming thought.
The living quarters were located near the Twin Towers, on the eastern part of Lin Xian River. The Twin Towers were comprised of the North Tower and the South Tower, and the dorms were also split into north and south. Lin Xian Central High’s students were staying in the southern dorm, while Kui Yuan’s students were staying in the northern dorm.
The exam site was located on the opposite river bank, or west of Lin Xian River. Thus, on opposite sides of the not very wide river, the exam site and the Twin Towers were facing each other.
“These Twin Towers were indeed set up by the proctors.” After getting off the bus, Zhou Lun Yu had discovered that there were quite a few machines installed on the towers, which directly faced the exam site on the west side! As expected, the exam site was open to the sky.
“Proctoring from such a high tower makes it easy to capture cheaters.” Meng Ming looked outside the window, and saw a whole area with ancient buildings that could no longer be renovated. Outside this area were tall skysc.r.a.pers. “Why does n.o.body live over there on the eastern side of the tower?”
“Kui Yuan’s bunch is living in the northern dorms.” Zhou Lun Yu also looked outside and pointed at the building. One could see that there were some students walking out of the northern building as well. “Hmph, they’re all going to see the exam site.” He was quite experienced, and naturally understood why these students were interested in the unfamiliar exam site. He asked, “Does that Jin Nai Nai also want to go see the exam site?”
“Ah, it’s possible. The girls are staying above us, right?” Meng Ming remembered. “I’ll go up and look for her.” As he said this, he stood up and walked away.
“Hey! You…” Zhou Lun Yu was just about to stop him, but Meng Ming had already run away before he’d gotten the chance to say anything. “….”
……
Meng Ming walked down to the rooms below, his whole body covered in wounds. He painfully ground out, “I, I forgot…Jin Nai Nai has seen the exam site before…”
Zhou Lun Yu hadn’t gotten the chance to tell him, “Even if you’re just going to see them all study, doing that in China means that you’ll be treated as a pervert…”
Especially by those studious, scholarly girls upstairs that lacked any excitement in their lives.
That winter afternoon, the imperial examination site on the west bank was filled with a pa.s.sionate, yet also anxious, air. The students had all prepared for the final exam that covered the entire semester, which was just about to begin!
Some students just happened to see delivery staff from the mail van, specially meant to deliver the test papers, come to the exam site to personally bring the materials. The proctoring could be said to be so tight that even a drop of water couldn’t get through.
All of the proctors were already there. Examinees from both schools were getting strictly searched by people a.s.signed from the schools. After it was guaranteed that an examinee didn’t have any communication or suspicious devices on their person, they were allowed into the exam site. The familiar people from Lin Xian Central High that were attending this joint examination were Zhuge Meng Ming, Zhou Lun Yu, and Jin Nai Nai.
“Right before the exam, you’re still able to eat bread? Are you not nervous at all?” Having just eaten lunch, Zhou Lun Yu felt like puking just at the sight of food. It wasn’t because he was afraid of the enemy, but because he wasn’t sure whether or not this girl would cause endless trouble.
“Oh.” Jin Nai Nai made a sound with the bread still in her mouth. It was clear to see that she felt that the quality of the milk bread here wasn’t good enough.
“Jin Nai Nai, it’s the afternoon, why are you still eating milk bread?” Meng Ming asked. He remembered that she’d also eaten bread this morning.
Jin Nai Nai looked at him as she thought a bit, “…I already ate the ham bread this morning.”
……
“But, if you love to eat X-seven’s bread so much, how come you didn’t choose the 50% discount coupon back then?” Meng Ming had never figured out the answer to this question. He remembered that, back on that day, Jin Nai Nai had chosen the student address book.
Suddenly, Zhou Lun Yu lightly hit Meng Ming, telling him to raise his guard. Meng Ming turned around, and suddenly discovered that Kui Yuan Central High’s three C-types had already entered! They were all carrying backpacks, and it was clear to see that they were completely prepared.
“There was nothing suspicious detected in their backpacks,” Zhou Lun Yu said in a low voice. “Stop your idle chatter, and let’s go meet them.” He began to walk forward.
“Ok.” Meng Ming also wanted to know whether or not they’d really pull something on the L-types during the exam.
The exam site was an old style building, with quite a few test tables placed in the middle. This place was clearly a large-scale platform for holding an exam. The platform was completely enclosed by three tall walls and an old building facing the north. It was split into three levels; the bottommost level was in the south, and its ground was lower. There were a few flights of stairs leading up to the two levels above. This ground seemed to be elevated by around a meter. The floor was paved with large amounts of stones, each of which were carved so that they were flat and smooth, and there were cracks between each stone that formed the shape of a net, where quite a bit of weeds grew. The exam tables were also ancient, and they stood on the stone floor with stationery, as well as a table number, on them. Although there were, in total, more than 70 tables in the exam site, there was an equal number of each on every one of the three levels. The table legs were all firmly embedded into the stone floors. If someone stood in the middle of the platform and raised their head, they’d be able to see the proctoring building on the east side—Old Xian Twin Towers.
“Hmm? That’s Zhou Lun Yu.” Kui Yuan’s people discovered the approaching Zhou Lun Yu, and said to him, “You finally decided to attend, now it’s actually interesting. Otherwise, this final exam would be dull.”
Meng Ming also caught up from behind.
“You three,” Zhou Lun Yu stood before the three people and said, “That means that you’re prepared to do 3 vs 2?”
“Are you scared?” Guo Dian sneered, questioningly.
“Hmph, it’s up to you. I’ve already said before that I don’t care about you guys at all,” Zhou Lun Yu provoked.
Hearing Zhou Lun Yu’s words, Guo Dian pursed his lips and used his thumb to point at Qi Tian Ao behind him. “Don’t worry, he’s an obedient kid, and won’t pull anything.” He then pointed at Lu Xiao, “This person keeps emphasizing this Zhuge Meng Ming person, and is simply useless. That’s why in this final joint examination…” Guo Dian pointed at himself, then pointed at Zhou Lun Yu. “Kui Yuan vs. Lin Xian is just between our tests.”
Hmph, such empty words. You clearly want to destroy the tests of those L-types.
“Then just bring it on,” Zhou Lun Yu also adopted a look of disdain. “If you underestimate Lin Xian Central High, you’ll definitely regret it.”
The proctoring building was on the northern face of the old building. Most of the proctors were at the bottom of the building, making their final preparations for work. There were quite a few proctors outside the surrounding walls, on top of the Twin Towers, to maintain order. The test papers were organized and sealed; before being unsealed, they had to pa.s.s everyone’s inspections.
Putting aside the other proctors, there were three main ones within the proctoring building. Aside from the single teacher hired from each school, there was also a teacher invited for just this occasion—Sun Ming Qing. He was a man with a dark-skinned face. He didn’t have much hair, and his gaze was indifferent, putting him more under the personality type that normally didn’t talk much.
As expected, he came. Zhou Lun Yu had noticed Sun Ming Qing from a distance. He looked towards the proctoring building, locking his gaze onto Sun Ming Qing, and his expression was clearly one of declaring war. I will catch you this time, no matter what methods you use to cheat.
“Zhou Lun Yu?” Meng Ming interrupted his thoughts. “What are you thinking about?”
Zhou Lun Yu didn’t tell him, and instead said, “Nothing. The exam will start soon, we should pay attention to their arrangements.”
It was almost time. Examinees from both schools were all present and already gathered at the vast exam site!
One of the proctoring teachers began by raising a microphone and announcing:
“Lin Xian Central High and Kui Yuan Central High, the dual school final joint examination will start exactly at 2:30pm! The next three days will be cloudy, but the weather will not affect the exams! This exam site has a total of over one hundred seats. In order to avoid any complicated procedures, the proctors will randomly hand out table numbers to everyone, and then ask you all to sit at your corresponding table! The first test is 150 minutes long, with a total of 100 points! The three test subjects are: literature, history, and philosophy!”
Literature, history, and philosophy? Everyone was shocked. All of the tests were humanities based? After exchanging looks with each other, everyone began to understand that, with this kind of exam site, the subjects being humanities-related made the most sense.
“There isn’t the English listening that you’re an expert in,” Zhou Lun Yu said to Meng Ming.
….Isn’t that obvious. Meng Ming thought.
The proctor continued to announce, “In order to lower the chances of cheating, the students from one school will be sitting interweaved with those from the other school! Next, I will invite our main proctor—Teacher Sun Ming Qing, to come read out the rules system used for this exam at this site.”
Sun Ming Qing finally stood up slowly and leisurely. He picked up the microphone and happily declared, “Students. This is an exam that everyone has taken multiple times the exam site system and its rules or whatever are things I’m sure you all know very well. That’s why I won’t bother specifically explaining them here!”
Won’t explain them?
Phew, so much more comfortable…
The students’ enthusiasms were boosted as a result.
Sun Ming Qing continued to say, “Our proctor doctrine is to have everyone relax more during the test because being at ease makes it so that the atmosphere isn’t as stiff. Of course the basic regulations still need to be complied with. There are students from two different schools here so proctor each other and keep each other under control.”
How come this old man speaks so strangely…. [Meng Ming]
Hmph, a b.a.s.t.a.r.d that just puts on acts. [Zhou Lun Yu]
As soon as he said this, he gestured to the people behind him that the exam could begin.
The teacher announced, “In that case, we’ll now start to hand out table numbers! Lin Xian Central High students, please stand on the east side, while Kui Yuan Central High students please stand on the west side!”
The students all obeyed, and stood according to the directions. The teacher responsible for Kui Yuan Central High gave out table numbers to Lin Xian’s students, while Lin Xian Central High’s Teacher Jiang gave the numbers out to Kui Yuan’s students. Sun Ming Qing sat alone in the northern building, overlooking the entire exam site.
Seeing this scene, Meng Ming suddenly asked, “Is this really fair? Aren’t the table numbers in the teachers’ hands all set already? Only the order is indefinite.”
Zhou Lun Yu answered, “Hmph, doing this is for the sake of ensuring that the students from different schools will be mixed together. It seems fair on the surface, but actually…”
Zhou Lun Yu and Meng Ming took a table number one after another.
“Examinees from the same school can clearly swap table numbers among themselves, right?”
Indeed, the examinees in Lin Xian and Kui Yuan couldn’t exchange seats between each other, but students from the same school could swap without anyone knowing! Moreover, the exam site would have a lot of empty seats…
There are very clearly loopholes, so why is Sun Ming Qing doing this? Is it just to guarantee that the schools are separated from each other…or is it that he doesn’t care at all if students from the same school swap with each other?! Zhou Lun Yu was still pondering this while the table numbers had all long been distributed. All of the examinees had begun to look for their own seats.
“Switching seats or not actually doesn’t really matter.” Meng Ming began running towards his own seat while shouting, “Hurry up and sit, I’m on the top level!”
Hearing this, Zhou Lun Yu thought: Hmph, he’s being quite obedient. He then looked at the table number in his own hand; it was on the bottom level.
North↑ Proctoring Building Twin Towers→
[Top Level]
A↓ B↓
C↓
——(Staircase)——-
D↓
[Middle Level]
——(Staircase)——-
E↑ F↑
[Bottom Level]
Guo DianZhuge Meng MingQi Tian AoJin Nai NaiLu XiaoZhou Lun YuThere weren’t any bells installed here. Perhaps to cater to the atmosphere, or as an act of satire, the proctors had gotten their hands on a large gong from somewhere!
What are they doing, that gong…
Too funny.
According to the old rules, Meng Ming first inspected all of the stationery on his table once he sat down!
Three pencils, an eraser, a small blade, no draft paper or scantron…just these things?! Meng Ming lifted his head to look forwards and survey the entire exam site. The enemy’s seats are obvious at a glance, and, although Zhou Lun Yu’s seat is low, he can still grasp the overall situation. Only Jin Nai Nai…
He looked at the girl sitting in the middle of the exam site in the front right direction.
With great difficulty, she’d finally managed to go out once, and her face was filled with rare emotions of grat.i.tude and a sense of satisfaction…
Meng Ming tightened his grip on the pencil. No matter how powerful the opponents are…I absolutely will not let you get hurt.