Chapter 24: 24

Chapter 24 - College Entrance Exam and Gambling

A couple of days before the official start of the college entrance exam, Furong No. 3 High School gave the students some time off. The intention was to let the college entrance exam students go home and adjust their emotions so they wouldn’t be too nervous during the exam, which might affect their performance.

After hearing that Shen Shao was going to take the college entrance exam, some of his fellow students thought it was strange. Shen Shao had such good grades and had participated in several competitions. Shouldn’t he be on the guaranteed list already? That had to be the case, right?

Shen Shao didn’t care what the rest of the world thought. In fact, Zhang JiaHe, his class teacher, had asked him about it, but Shen Shao had already turned down early admission because it wasn’t the school he wanted to go to. What’s more, he wanted to be like the other students. He wanted to make up for the regret of his previous life and experience what it felt like to battle through the college entrance exam.

Therefore, when he filled out his college selection form before the exam, he filled in the name of a school he could only dream about in his previous life. Everything that happened in his previous life told him that he was dreaming too much, but since he had the chance to come back and do it over again, he had to fight to make his dream a reality.

One month before the college entrance exam, Liang Cheng’s family began to cook all kinds of soup for Shen Shao and their son to nourish their bodies and brains. If Shen Shao hadn’t insisted on not moving in with them, they would have cared for Shen Shao like their own child.

Shen Shao was touched by the kindness of the Liang family. After three years, he’d gotten used to eating at Liang Cheng’s house, just like Liang Cheng was used to eating at his place.

During the final sprint, Shen Shao deliberately drilled a lot of knowledge points with Zhou ZeYu and Liang Cheng that might appear on the exam. Because of this, both the Liang and Zhou parents had a more cordial attitude towards him.

On the day of the college entrance exam, the two sets of parents personally took the three to the examination room, and then waited for them in the scorching sun.

The first part of the exam was the Chinese test. When the first section was over, the parents didn’t dare to ask the three children how they did. They just took out some umbrellas for shade and handed them water to drink.

That was especially true of Zhou ZeYu’s parents. Maybe because Zhou ZeYu had grown up so tall and sturdy, the Zhou parents seemed to be more worried about Shen Shao than their son. Mrs. Zhou, who’d always been tough-minded, deliberately lowered her voice and gently asked Shen Shao if he was hot or thirsty.

Their lunch at noon was also made by the parents. Any foods that might cause an adverse reaction weren’t allowed on the table. Ice cream was impossible, spicy things weren’t allowed, and greasy things were prohibited. The idea was: nutritious, green, and healthy.

Fortunately, the three boys weren’t picky eaters. After lunch, they chatted for a while, then went to take a nap. As for the four parents, they were full of energy, staring at the clock on the wall, waiting for the right time to wake up their children.

They couldn’t call them too early, because the child might not have enough energy, and they couldn’t call them too late. What if the kid was late for the test or got a headache caused by too much sleep?

With the four parents taking everything so seriously, the three finally reached the end of the two-day college entrance exam. After they walked out of the examination room, they saw a lot of other candidates excitedly throwing their notes and workbooks in the air. The flying pages looked like fluttering snow. The papers almost hit the three in the face.

Shen Shao looked at the examinees who were delirious with excitement and asked seriously, “What happens if they throw away their notes right now, and then they have to repeat another year?”

For him, those notes were a memento of his school days. He simply couldn’t throw them away. Maybe that was the psychological difference between a teenager and someone as old as an uncle?

“Shao Ge, if any of them hear you say that, Liang Cheng and I won’t be able to save you.” Zhou ZeYu patted him on the shoulder. “That kind of regret can’t be understood until you actually experience it. Don’t say anything to remind them.”

Liang Cheng: …

His friends’ three views seemed to be skewed somehow. How did that happen?

The day after the college entrance exam, all the teachers and students of Class 15 held a graduation dinner in a hotel. During the first half, everyone laughed and made noise. By the end, some girls began to cry.

Three years wasn’t a long time, but it also wasn’t short. These teenage girls had spent time with each other every day for long enough to develop a sincere friendship with their classmates. Now that they’d graduated, everyone would scatter in all directions to do different things. Anyone would be sad to think about it.

Even Shen Shao was infected by his classmates’ emotions, and he felt a little solemn and sad.

For Zhang JiaHe, this was the class he was the most proud of in his ten years of teaching. These students were about to graduate and enter the halls of upper academia. As a class teacher, he felt relieved but also a little regretful to see them go.

When he noticed that the students were in low spirits, he raised his glass filled with orange juice and said, “Although we’re about to separate, if we stay in touch, these friendships won’t fade with time.” In fact, he knew very well that plenty of high school students who thought they’d be friends for the rest of their lives ended up breaking off contact or even became enemies when they grew up. But he was reluctant to say such heartbreaking things in front of this group of teenagers. Besides, there were also people who remained friends from early childhood. Although that type of pure friendship was rare, that didn’t mean it didn’t exist.

Perhaps Zhang JiaHe’s words had an effect. The students’ mood stabilized and the atmosphere became more lively.

Several girls came over to clink glasses with Shen Shao. It was possible they had some ideas about him, or maybe they just thought Shen Shao was handsome. No matter the reason, it was a rare opportunity they didn’t want to miss.

When they came up to take pictures with him or made ambiguous jokes, Shen Shao maintained a blank expression on his face. It made several girls who had thoughts about him give up on feelings that hadn’t yet sprouted. Throughout the dinner, no one went over to Shen Shao to confess their feelings.

Afterwards, Shen Shao, Zhou ZeYu, and Liang Cheng walked out of the hotel shoulder to shoulder. After walking for a while, the three were stopped by Liu Shuang.

Liu Shuang was the literature and art class representative for the past three years. She was forthright as well as beautiful. A lot of boys in school had thoughts about her, but they were a little intimidated by her brashness.

“Shen Shao.” Liu Shuang walked up to Shen Shao and looked at him for a long time. Finally she said, “Take care.”

Shen Shao smiled. “Take care also.”

Liu Shuang looked at him carefully, then smiled and took a few steps back. “Goodbye.” After saying this, she turned around and left without hesitating. In life, who hasn’t had a crush on one or two people? It was just that the person she secretly liked had no interest in her, which was why she had no illusions about it.

It wasn’t painful to say goodbye like this. At least it wouldn’t be awkward if they met again in the future. There was nothing wrong with it.

Zhou ZeYu and Liang Cheng looked at Liu Shuang walking away, and then they looked at Shen Shao, who seemed the same as ever. For a moment, they couldn’t figure out whether Shen Shao knew about Liu Shuang’s feelings.

“Shao Ge, you…”

“I what?” Shen Shao smiled with a sincere expression and looked at Zhou ZeYu.

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“Forget it, it’s nothing.” Zhou ZeYu touched his nose and fell silent. In the face of Shao Ge’s brilliant smile, he couldn’t bring himself to tell Shen Shao that Liu Shuang might secretly have a crush on him.

He somehow felt that this sort of thing wasn’t appropriate for Shen Shao. Strange, where did such an unexplainable intuition come from?

“Shao Ge, now that the college entrance exam is over, what are you going to do for summer vacation?” Liang Cheng didn’t feel bothered like Zhou ZeYu. Anyway, he was full of unconditional admiration for Shen Shao. “Our family is going to travel abroad this summer. Why don’t you come with us?”

Shen Shao shook his head. “That’s OK. You guys have fun. I’m going back to my hometown soon.”

“Oh.” Liang Cheng knew that Shen Shao had his own ideas, so he didn’t insist. He just asked Shen Shao to call him often.

In fact, Shen Shao didn’t go back to his hometown. Instead he went to the famous gambling city of Haishi.

Haishi was once made a colony by a foreign aggressor. After it returned to China, in order to show respect for the customs of the local people, China designated it as a special area and let Haishi govern itself to a certain extent.

Haishi wasn’t large, but it became a popular tourism destination because of its unique gambling culture. Many people passing through the city would buy some chips and play a few games of roulette or poker to experience the excitement of gambling.

However, there were also people who became obsessed. They could either make a fortune or lose a lot of money, but most of the time it was the latter.

When Shen Shao arrived in Haishi, the World Cup had been going on for more than ten days. By this time, the group stage of the tournament was near its end. He wagered on several games where he remembered the results and deliberately made a losing bet on one of them. Although the odds weren’t high because it was only a group match, he made enough money to cover all of his university expenses.

When the quarterfinals began, there were several unexpected results because the referees’ decisions on the field kept fluctuating. It made Shen Shao a handsome sum. Of course, he didn’t forget to also make a wrong bet.

In particular, the game between Xiya Country and Simi Country made Shen Shao a lot of money. Some people didn’t believe that Xiya would lose to Simi until the very end of the game.

The gamblers were upset. They said the game was shady and scolded the referees for making suspicious calls, but the result of the match couldn’t be changed.

Shen Shao stayed in Haishi for most of the month. On the surface, he had wins as well as losses. In reality, because of the odds on the bets he won, he took in a considerable amount of money. Therefore, he didn’t dare to stay very long. After withdrawing his winnings, he left Haishi in a hurry. He’d won a few million, and in order to confuse whoever might be watching, he deliberately switched the type of transportation he was using and traveled to several different places. After confirming that no one was following him, he flew back to Furong City, changed from the clothes that were different from his usual style, and took a car back to Peng County.

When he made it to Peng County, he remembered that he’d forgotten to do something important—that is, check his score on the college entrance exam. By the time he thought of it, he was standing outside his uncle’s apartment building with a bag of gifts. He decided to call from his uncle’s house to check his score.

He sighed as he climbed the stairs. Money really was something that corroded the soul. He forgot about such an important thing in order to make money.

But… making money… felt pretty good….

Shen Shao knocked on the door of his eldest maternal uncle’s house, and the door opened from inside. The person who opened the door was his eldest aunt. The moment she saw Shen Shao, his eldest aunt’s eyes lit up with a burst of joy, which was so bright that Shen Shao couldn’t help but take a step back.

“Xiao Shao is here! Come in, come in.” As she let him in, his eldest aunt scolded Shen Shao for buying so many presents. Then she neatly peeled some fruit and turned on the TV. She was so enthusiastic that Shen Shao could hardly sit down.

Eldest Aunt had always been kind to him, but she wasn’t usually as excited as today, which made Shen Shao wonder if he’d gone to the wrong house.

Did something happen that he didn’t know about?

 

TL Notes:

three views – 三观 – Generally refers to one’s outlook on the world (for example, idealism vs. materialism), outlook on life (the purpose and meaning of human existence), and values (Baidu)

group stage – The final tournament of this FIFA World Cup had two stages: a group stage followed by a knockout stage. In the group stage, teams competed within eight groups of four teams each. In these groups, teams participated in a round-robin tournament where they played a match against every other team in the group (Wikipedia)

quarterfinals – 八分之一决赛 – “eighth-finals” – Maybe because there are eight teams left

fluctuating – 忽高忽低 – alternately soaring and plunging

the game between Xiya Country and Simi Country – The match between South Korea and Spain in the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals was a major upset because of some incorrect referee decisions

making suspicious calls – 黑哨 – black whistle – (soccer etc) corrupt officiating / dubious call

 

Transliterated names, places, and titles—new in this chapter:

Mrs. Zhou – 周母 – Zhōu mǔ – Alternatively: Mother Zhou

Haishi – 海市 – Sea City – Most likely refers to Macau (澳门), a center for gambling tourism known as “the Las Vegas of the East” (Wikipedia)

Xiya Country – 西牙国 – AKA Spain (西班牙)

Simi Country – South Korea. Refer to the note in Ch. 21

eldest uncle – 大舅家 – eldest maternal uncle

eldest aunt – 大舅妈 – wife of eldest maternal uncle

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