Perfect Performance

The English and Chinese exams are different from the science exam. The language exams often have advanced portions but the science exam only tests what's in the textbook.

For example, in the Chinese language test, there are classical texts and even reading comprehension questions that haven't been taught to test the candidates' comprehension level. In the English test, there will also be some vocabulary and grammar that haven't been taught yet. Some teachers thought the exams for the language subjects became dull if only the content from textbooks gets tested.

Because there are many points of advanced knowledge that are not in the textbook and the subjectiveness of the teacher grading the exam, there are very few full marks in Chinese and English.

Soon, the loudspeaker in the corner of the classroom began to play the audio of the English listening test. Li Mu has twelve minutes to answer the questions on his test. As long as he can pass the listening portion, the remaining parts of the test will be much easier.

For Li Mu, the English portion of the test is simple enough to be described in a few words. He dares not to preach himself, but he studied English for many years and was obsessed with Hollywood blockbuster and American dramas in his past life. He was even able to watch English movies without reading the subtitles.

Therefore, at the moment when the audio stopped playing, Li Mu was silently jubilant in his heart.

"OK!"

The hearing portion of the test was thirty minutes long, and he knew he could ace it.

Soon after, he began working on the multiple choice questions.

Out of 150 marks, 115 are multiple choice questions, but they are divided into listening and reading comprehension.

After having done 115 questions, Li Mu felt that he could get a full score. If he was deducted more than three points, he would be ashamed to even face the sky. With the last thirty five marks, ten went to the short answer questions and the last twenty five marks went to the contemporary portion. In 2001, the main focus of the Chinese people was on the successful Yanjing's Olympic bid, and their concern for the national football team. Because the bid happened after the entrance exams, the essay's prompt was: If you are an Olympic bid worker, how would you introduce Yanjing to the world? To the Olympics?

Before mid-July of 2001, hosting the Olympics was one of China's dreams. As Li Mu had the knowledge of future developments, he briefly explained the insatiable enthusiasm and expectations the Chinese people held for the Olympics.

In the end, he even copied the original Olympic theme slogan, "One World, One Dream", from the 2005 Olympics to his paper.

In the two hour long exam, he managed to finish the test in an hour. When Li Mu was rushing through all of the answers, the male proctor's eyes never left Li Mu, wanting to catch him for cheating, or find an opportunity to frame him for cheating.

However, the male proctor was disappointed. Li Mu's eyes never left his desk. His hands were always on the table, one hand held his head up, and the other hand was busy scribbling down the answers.

After Li Mu finished the exam, he quickly doubled-checked his answers. After confirming there were no mistakes, he handed in his papers after an hour and fifteen minutes.

In this year, the college entrance exams were still a very sacred thing. Except for the academically poor students, very few people would submit their papers ahead of time. Even if they were sure of a good grade, they would repeatedly check for any wrong answers, which would consume the rest of the time they had for the exam.

Li Mu had entered the examination room like a Shura. With just one sentence, he stunned the male proctor into silence. Moreover, he finished the exam in just over an hour. In the eyes of the other candidates, this astounded them.

What a God!

Li Mu was confident that he got close to getting a perfect score on the English exam. He was sure that he could get above 120 marks, but he could only wait a few more days to see how he actually did.

After leaving the examination room, he went to the bathroom to wash his face. Although his clothes were still wet, he didn't look as embarrassing as before. The rain had stopped for a while as Li Mu made his way to the fifth high school's entrance. Lou, he suddenly thought of something.

Aunty, the bike seems to be gone. After being hit, I woke up in an ambulance.

I don't have a bicycle, and it's not suitable for me to take a bus. It seems that I can only take a taxi home.

Li Mu touched his pocket. Fortunately, there was a soaked ten-yuan ticket.

Let's go home and talk.

At the school gate, Li Mu was preparing to call a taxi when a woman suddenly rushed over nervously.

"Li Mu?"

Li Mu glanced sideways at the fashionably dressed woman running towards him.

The woman looked like she was in her early twenties. She looked young, beautiful, and very beautiful!

Hey, no, isn't this the driver Chen Wan who hit him? Why is she here?

"Are you okay?'

Chen Wan's nervousness finally eased a little, and she said quickly, "You were running too fast, I had to go back and get your bike. Thanks to the license plate on your bike, I found the leader of your school. Then I found your information. I came here to find you, but the security guard refused to let me in. I felt like I was about to die!"

Li Mu was stunned.

"Bicycles have license plates?"

Chen Wan didn't immediately respond, but instead pulled out a plastic brand from her bag, which read: "No. 1307 in Haizhou High School."

After seeing this, Li Mu understood that it was the brand he put on the front handle of his bike. When entering a school, he had to hold the license and the brand would be registered at that school. Chen Wan relied on this brand to locate where Li Mu was.

"I've called the Xiling Coal Mine where your parents are working. You can come to the hospital with me and get checked up now!"

"No elder sister, I'm fine, rest assured."

Seeing Chen Wan's expression of concern and anxiety, Li Mu recalled that she would quietly fund his college tuition out of guilt in his last life, and he felt grateful for her.

In 2001, his family's financial situation was not well. The Xiling Coal Mine where his parents worked had a limited amount of resources remaining. In recent years, the benefits were not good as they were before. The monthly income of his parents dropped to less than 1,500 yuan. At the end of 2001, both of his parents were laid off. His parents were forced to work everywhere; his mother went to clean at a restaurant, his father worked hard at a construction site, and both of them hid their situation from Li Mu when he was in college. Without Chen Wan's support, he wouldn't have made it through the four years of college.

"It's not your words, but the doctor's words I trust."

Chen Wan's expression was anxious.

Seeing her insistence, Li Mu replied, "That's okay, I can go to the hospital with my parents when they arrive."

"How can you do that?!"

Chen Wan blurted out, "If there are any problems, it'll only get worse after waiting so long. I told your parents I would find you, take you to the hospital, and stay there with you until they came. I gave them my number so they could call me when they reach a public phone in the city."

"Xiling Coal Mine is too far away from the city, and it isn't convenient to take a car from there. I called them half an hour ago, and the fastest they'll get here is in another hour."

That's true.

From the coal mine, it's impossible to take a taxi in the countryside that was more than thirty kilometers away from the city. And in 2001, the roads weren't as developed as the country roads a decade later. His parents usually took around an hour to commute there and back.

Seeing Chen Wan's situation, she would definitely not agree if he didn't go to the hospital. Li Mu was willing to repay her for his last life. At the very least, he wouldn't let her commit the same mistakes. So it was better for him to take this opportunity to get familiar with her. Chen Wan's accidental death was in 2015, which meant that she still had more than ten years.

"Well, then I'll go to the hospital with you."