Chapter 33: The Score

Bai Yutang sent text messages to his sister this Wednesday morning. He only sent short messages, wishing Bai Yuren to do well on her university entrance exams. The exams are also widely known as gaokao.

Last night he already called his sister, telling her just to eat and sleep. Because the most important thing in this exam is to maintain her stamina on these long and exhausting exams.

He still remembers the time when he took his exams three years ago. He followed all his teacher and senior's advice. Eat well and sleep early. He was glad he did that. Because after the exams he doesn't have any energy left.

The exams will take two days in a row, and it will exhaust both your body and your soul. His sister was really nervous when they talked by the phone yesterday. Bai Yutang told her not to think much about the result. Just answer what you can answer first, and don't think about the questions you can't answer.

No matter what the result is, she's still his beloved sister.

This morning he chose not to call, because he knows the morning before going to the room that will change your life forever, you can't think about anything else. So he just messaged her.

He wished her to do well.

He also will have his final exams next week. He already started to holed up in the dorm and studying. Yu Dong sometimes goes out to have lunch or goes to the library with Mu Xiaoya. Bai Yutang chose to stay in the dorm and ask him to buy him food. Or else he will be fed up by another dog food.

In the afternoon, his sister called him after the first day of exams. She was crying, stressed out and panicked. She sobbed while complaining about this year's questions. It seems like the hardest gaokao compared to previous years.

Bai Yutang calms her down by saying, "Relax, if you think that the question is hard, then other people will have it harder. You just need to eat a lot, and sleep early tonight. Tomorrow is another hard day. But no worries. No matter what is the result, we still love you the same. And I believe you'll do better than me."

Bai Yuren still cried, but a little bit calmed down. She said she will eat and sleep and play to her heart content after the exam. Bai Yutang asked her to go take a hot bath and eat her dinner well. He doesn't want to ask anything about today's exams. It will only add the stress to his sister.

Bai Yutang called her mom, and asked her to cook all Bai Yuren's favourite food, and tell his parents not to ask anything about the exams unless Bai Yuren herself talked about that. His mom assured him they won't do that.

After all, Bai Yuren is different from him. Even though she looks strong from the outside, inside she's still a young pampered girl. She rarely cried, but sometimes when she doesn't know what to do, she will come to him and cry, asking him for consolation and support.

On Thursday morning, Bai Yutang sent another message to wish her sister well on this second and last day of gaokao. His sister called him again in the afternoon after the exams.

Now she didn't cry, just laugh and her tired voice sounds relieved to finally be free from this exhausting journey. As all the participants in this gaokao, they have been preparing for these exams for a long time. Some schools even start to drill their students from their first year of high school.

Bai Yutang congratulated her, and told her to go home and rest today. Tomorrow she can play outside all day to celebrate her freedom. His sister laughs and asks when he will come home.

She wished Bai Yutang would come home as soon as possible, to see the result together. Bai Yutang promised her to go home once he finished his final exams.

"Then i'll book your ticket, Ge. Your exams are finished on Friday right? Then how about Saturday morning?" Her sister's excited voice echoed from the other line. She then added with a low voice, "I really need you to accompany me see my result.. I.. I don't want to cry alone.."

Bai Yutang can't help but smile. As a man, and as an older brother, he has to protect his only sister. As a result, sometimes Bai Yuren acts like children only in front of him. She didn't even act this way to their parents.

Though she's the award winning actress for a 'pretend to be coquettish and pure daughter' when she wants to ask something from their father.

Bai Yutang spent the rest of the week studying. Then finally the final exams are done on Friday. His sister already bought the ticket for tomorrow morning. So today Bai Yutang needs to pack his things. Summer break is long, almost 12 weeks. Thus he needs to pack all his things.

Last week, Jian Ge already asked him when he will go back to his hometown. Once he knows that Bai Yutang will directly go back to W city, Jian Ge asks him to watch movies on Friday night. Bai Yutang really doesn't have time for that. So he rejected Jian Ge's invitation.

But after that, he felt guilty. After all, he can't forget those lonely eyes he saw at the Korean restaurant when they had dinner last time.

Finally Bai Yutang texted and invited Jian Ge, said he will treat him at Huxiang for dinner before he goes back home. Jian Ge agreed immediately, and set the time to 7 pm so Bai Yutang could sleep early for his flight the next day.

Bai Yutang wonders why Jian Ge is free on Friday night. He knows that Jian Ge is quite busy every Friday. But he decided not to ask.

Bai Yutang invited Yu Dong and the others to have dinner at Huxiang together. They all agreed and Yu Dong said he wants to invite Mu Xiaoya. Bai Yutang didn't want his best friend to be disappointed if he said no. So in the end he nodded his head.

Today's dinner is similar to the last birthday dinner, only the place is different. Bai Yutang reserved the table for eight people, and already chose some menu over the phone. He really wants to go back early, so he can wake up in the morning tomorrow. He doesn't want to miss his flight.

The dinner is really lively. After all they celebrate the freedom from exams and university packed schedule, and welcoming the long summer break. When Mu Xiaoya and Ling Yue talking about the summer in S city, Jian Ge suddenly said, "It's been quite time since my last visit there. Did you guys ever visit S city before? If you haven't, how about all of us going there for few days next month? Mu Xiaoya and Ling Yue could be our guide, if you girls don't mind."

After saying this, Jian Ge looked at Yu Dong with meaningful eyes. Yu Dong immediately answered, "It's a good idea, Jian Ge. What do you think, Xiaoya?"

Mu Xiaoya looked surprised at first but then she grinned, "Of course i don't mind! Ling Yue is also free this summer break. If you guys come, we'll definitely be your tour guide and give you the authentic tour from S city native citizen."

Tang Yuxuan also loudly says his agreement. Only Liu Xiang says nothing with a pondering face. After a while he said, "I have to go with my parents for our annual vacation every July. How about August? Before we come back to university?"

The others also don't mind. So it was settled that they will go to S city in August, and they are already talking about the food and which date is the best, and so on. Yu Dong looks really happy and his face shows his gratitude for Jian Ge.

They all said goodbye at 9 pm, since Bai Yutang needed to go back early. The other will be going back home in the afternoon or on Monday. They still talk about the upcoming vacation together while walking home.

Bai Yutang and his friends send Jian Ge to his car, and wave him goodbye. Bai Yutang didn't know if it was only his imagination, but Jian Ge's face was a little bit sad, and his smile was not as bright as usual when he finally left.

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Bai Yuren holds his hand tight, her hands slightly wet from her nervous sweat. They sit in front of the computer, Bai Yuren's eyes closed and it seems she prays to all the Gods she knows. She applied for medical faculty in T university and W university.

It was very difficult for students from other cities to apply to these few best universities in greater cities. Students from B city are having bigger opportunities to be accepted in T university, while students from W city are more likely to be accepted in W university.

That's why Bai Yutang could understand her nervous act, and why she chose W university as her second choice. W university is also famous for its medical faculty even though it's not the top 10 medical faculty in this country.

Actually, Bai Yuren is already consulting with Jian Ge. That's why her first choice is T university. Jian Ge told him, though T university is also very good as his own alma mater, but lately in the last few years, the best medical faculty is P university in B city too. If Bai Yuren really strives for the best, then better to apply there.

But Bai Yuren didn't have enough confidence, since T university was already very hard for her. So she applied there, then second choice was W university.

From 750 points, she will need a minimum of 700 points to secure her place in T university. Bai Yutang scored 690 when he took the test. That's already a very high score. Sometimes Bai Yutang also feels that he's lucky to score that high. And definitely really glad that his score is enough for him to be accepted in his dream university.

In the year when he took his gaokao and his result was announced, his parents bustled with joy and his mom even cried. No one in their family ever scored above 600 in the gaokao. All the neighbours also congratulate him, and his father celebrates it with a big feast inviting all his workers and neighbours.

Bai Yutang feels that is one of the best moments in his life, because he felt all his hard work is paid for. He's studying really hard for years before the exams. He rarely goes outside for his third year of high school. If he gets bored, he only plays games or reads comics. Then he studied again.

He's not that smart, so he can only study hard.

Bai Yuren's grip is even tighter when they click the result. She closed her eyes, and Bai Yutang can see her forehead layered with thin sweat too. Their parents are outside the room waiting for the result while pretending to be calm.

Bai Yuren's score is 685.

Both of them stare at the result. Even Bai Yutang couldn't believe his eyes. He truly thinks that his sister's result will score above 700. All their life, Bai Yuren always has better results compared to him academically.

685 is a really high score. Every parent in this country will bow down to earth, the student's will jump in joy, and their teacher will boast that result to every student in the school.

But it's not enough to be accepted in the top 10 best medical faculty in this country, especially prestigious universities like T university.

Bai Yuren's hand loosen her grip, and a bead of tears start to roll in her cheek. Her eyes widened, full of grievances and disappointment. Even Bai Yutang couldn't believe this result, moreover her sister. His heart ache for his sister, but he also can't say anything. He only can hug her.

He wanted to say, 'Let's just wait for the final result from the university. Maybe T university cutoff point this year is lower.'

But he knows, saying words containing hope at this time will only sting deeper and hurts more if your final hope is proven wrong. It was not fair for her sister if he gave those empty words to console her.

So he just silently hugs her, pat her shoulder, and prays for a miracle for her beloved sister.