Chapter 158 - Im Not Like That

Since there were no classes on Saturday, there was no need for students to ask for leave to go anywhere.

There were buildings open all around the campus, full of computers for any student who signed up for the test to use. There were a lot of computers in Tan Mo’s dormitory that were also available.

Despite the fact that there wasn’t much time to read before an exam, Lin Fuxi would still bring along a few books to read, a habit she had had since her primary years. With three minutes left before the exam, Lin Fuxi finally tucked her book away.

The questions were usually noticeably displayed when clicking into the official website of the school. Large banners were clearly shown at the top of the website, making it hard to miss.

Yet once clicked on, the screen was void of any information. It was still blank, for it wasn’t time for the exam to start.

Lin Fuxi exited the site and decided to wait until the clock struck the hour before immediately re-entering the site.

She turned around, looking for Tan Mo, and saw her laughing and chatting with other classmates standing around her. It seemed as if, other than Lin Fuxi, everyone else was babbling on as if they couldn’t care less about the upcoming test.

Suddenly, Tan Mo said, “Sister Fuxi, stop being so serious. You can just answer the questions casually. It’s not a big deal.”

Lin Fuxi plastered a polite smile on a face that seemed to say that she wasn’t putting much effort into this at all and replied, “That’s what I was intending to do, since my chances of a high mark are slim anyway. I was just going to answer them casually.”

A girl from some other department who was standing near them bluntly said to Lin Fuxi, “If you’re feeling so casual, why were you reading just now? You looked so serious too.”

Lin Fuxi didn’t bother to reply.

She was thinking, it’s none of your business! Stop being so nosy.

In the end, she only managed to take a deep breath and murmur, “This is a habit of mine. I’ve been like this since primary school, and I don’t do it because I feel serious. I just find a random book to read in order to calm myself down. It was coincidental that this book was in my bag today.”

Quite a few of the students that were standing around her sneered.

What’s the big deal?

It’s only right to study hard and wish for the best grades one could get.

But it’s sick if you worked hard, yet had to act like you didn’t.

Tan Mo rested her chin on her hand and continued the conversation. “You know, speaking of this, I have a few classmates who pull all-nighters just to study, yet won’t admit it. They always claim that they’re up all night partying and having fun and not studying at all, but come back with great exam results.”

The crowd around nodded with sympathy. “We’ve got classmates like that too.”

Once again, Lin Fuxi didn’t know what to say. She answered, “I’m not like that.”

“Of course, I know that.” Tan Mo laughed. “Sister Fuxi only likes to read and revise just a bit right before exams.”

Lin Fuxi didn’t bother to reply to this. Why did she feel as if the others didn’t believe her at all?

Right at this moment, two proctors walked in. No one in this room, full of those who couldn’t care less about school, would have thought that there’d be two proctors.

So strict…

But of course they weren’t going to cheat.

Cheating at Beijing University would have huge, serious consequences.

The proctors said, “This is the one-minute warning. Would everyone please get ready now? Once I say you may start, you may then all click into the link given to you.”

All the students gripped their mouses tightly, ready to click into the site upon getting the green light.

Whether or not you can answer the question, what’s important is that you don’t get left behind.

If you’re slow at responding, you could even miss a question.

The proctors looked at their watches and announced, “You may now click the link and enter the site. The countdown for the questions should have already begun.”

Lin Fuxi quickly entered the site, and it redirected her to a new page.

The blank page started counting down from ten. Once the countdown reached one, the page would automatically change.

The first question appeared.

What category does the word “and” belong to?

A. Classical Textology B. Qin Zhuan C. Neat Script D. None of the above

Then the countdown began on the top-right corner of the brightly lit screen.

Many in the class were shocked and overwhelmed.

What in the bloody…

They all knew archaic words and texts would be on the test, but this was way too difficult.

Tan Mo quietly chose C as her answer.

On the other hand, Lin Fuxi was not very sure. Based on her memory, it didn’t seem like the first two options were right, so she chose C also.

For people who knew the subject well, ten seconds for one question was considered to be a decent amount of time. The first three seconds would be to select the correct answer, and the remaining time would be spent waiting for the next question.

But for those who hadn’t specialized in the field, these ten seconds flew by too quickly. The screen changed before it was even possible to figure the answer out.

Sighs in the classroom got progressively louder as they neared the end of the exam.

The clicking speed of the mouses got closer and closer to the ten-second limit. But no one was willing to concede and give up. Even if you didn’t know the answer, you could guess and who knows? You might have guessed correctly.

All the questions ended swiftly, in total taking only half an hour.

In just this half an hour, many students seemed to have been struggling quite a bit.

None of the students in this examination hall were from the Chinese Department.

Naturally, those who had applied to take the exam from other departments would be less than those from the Chinese Department. Hence, the students were split up into different examination halls, while those from the Chinese Department were concentrated in multiple halls.

The halls with the students from the Chinese Department were different. They were much quieter. They were a stark contrast from this examination hall.

But of course all this was relative.

Sighs could actually be heard from all the rooms.

Wang Yuemu and the others had all been split up into different examination halls. They had a fairly easy time answering the questions.

Thanks to their studies, many problems that couldn’t be solved in the past could now be solved.

Finally, the exam ended.

At the hall where Tan Mo had taken the exam, none of the students left, since they were all waiting to see their scores. After refreshing the page, the scores came up immediately.

Name, department, class, grade, rank.

A total of five pieces of information.

Many of the students were showing pained expressions once they had received their scores.

They then clicked onto the rankings list.

“How come the list hasn’t been published yet?” someone asked.

“It won’t be published for a while. It will be published after half an hour or so, so you can try to refresh again then,” said the proctor. “You can choose to stay here and wait or head home and check later from home. The classroom will close in half an hour.” The proctors then left the classroom promptly.

Most of the students weren’t in any rush and started discussing the exam among themselves.

“I would never have guessed that these questions were going to be this hard.”

“This was just for picking out official team players, but it seems like some big audition. Once we get to the actual competition, wouldn’t it be even crazier?”

“Honestly, we don’t know for sure. They might be on the same level of difficulty,” someone else said. “Maybe this was the only way to assess the strength of the official team members.”

“How’d you find the questions?”

“You shouldn’t ask me how I found the questions. You should ask me just exactly how many questions I knew how to answer.”

“Well, I didn’t know a single answer, but I don’t think I’ll get a zero score, do you? I hope not. Being last would just be plain embarrassing.”

“Hey, do all the people from the Chinese Department know the answers to these kind of questions? The stuff they learn is so difficult.”

“I’m not sure about that. If they were all so smart, then our school wouldn’t lose more than win.”

Yes, someone has caught wind about that.