Chapter 1668 - 303: 4

Tan Wenbin looked diagonally ahead at the gates of a middle school.

It was initially surrounded by people, and now the students were pouring out like a swarm, instantly turning the crowd lively.

Only then did Tan Wenbin remember that today was the first day of the college entrance exam, and according to the schedule, the afternoon session was for math.

He originally planned to drive away slowly, but Tan Wenbin noticed three familiar figures, namely Leizi, Panzi, and Yingzi.

He rolled down the window and called out to them.

Even excluding the connection with Brother Xiao Yuan, these three were his juniors, especially Panzi and Leizi, who used to excitedly watch when Tan Wenbin got into fights at school.

"Brother Bin."

"Brother Bin."

Panzi and Leizi called out enthusiastically.

Tan Wenbin asked, "Where's your school bus?"

Shigang Middle School isn't a college entrance exam venue, just like last year when the test site was at Pingchao Middle School, the school organized buses to transport their students to the test site.

Panzi: "No school bus this year. The school gave us bus tickets. Look, there's the bus stop ahead; you can take a direct bus to Shigang from there."

Last year's test site was far, but this year it's in the city, much closer, and there's a direct town bus route, so there's no need to organize a school bus.

Of course, families with better conditions could have their parents handle the transportation themselves or simply book a hotel nearby.

Actually, Panzi and the others didn't mention another thing, which is that this year students can stay directly in the student dormitories at the test site, and eat at the cafeteria, but they have to pay a fee for room and board.

The three of them didn't tell their families. Panzi and Leizi didn't have high hopes for the college entrance exam, just taking it as a formality, knowing they wouldn't pass, while Yingzi's parents weren't home, and she was staying with her grandparents, feeling too shy to ask them for money for it.

"Come on, hop in, I'll give you a ride home."

"Thank you, Brother Bin!"

Panzi and Leizi got into the back seat.

"Thank you, Brother Bin." Yingzi also moved toward the back seat.

Tan Wenbin: "No need to squeeze, sit in the front passenger seat."

Yingzi responded and came around to sit in front.

There was a bit of traffic up ahead, so Tan Wenbin moved forward slowly, asking casually:

"Was it hard this year?"

Panzi: "Brother Bin, that question's asked to the wrong person."

Leizi: "We can't taste the difference between salty and bland either."

Tan Wenbin looked at Yingzi, who nodded, saying, "The Chinese reading comprehension was a bit tricky, math was hard, but not as exaggerated as your batch last year."

"Haha." Hearing this, Tan Wenbin couldn't help but laugh; the math exam from his year was truly insane, and he remembered many classmates walked out of the test with a devastated look, and quite a few even left crying.

It was only later he found out that the exam paper for that year's college entrance math was set by Ge Jun.

When Tan Wenbin was attending school in Jinling, he even saw an interview with Ge Jun in the Yangzi Evening News.

He didn't usually read newspapers, but that time Yin Meng brought it to him at the store, saying it mentioned Brother Xiao Yuan.

The main headline of the interview was "Special Grade Teacher", "College Entrance Math Examiner"… with the subheading "The Agreement Between Me and the Provincial Champion". 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

That's when Tan Wenbin learned that Brother Xiao Yuan had known this examiner long ago, and they had talked, with the article using terms like "had a great conversation", "shared ideals".

It turned out Brother Xiao Yuan was an award recipient from that year's math Olympiad; otherwise, this report wouldn't have been appropriate, as it would have attracted much controversy.

As for the difficulty of that year's math exam, the article provided a reasonable explanation: I am setting the standard by the provincial champion's level.

Tan Wenbin: "Forget each subject after you finish, lighten up for the next, perform well."

Yingzi clenched her fist, nodded, and said, "Mm!"

Tan Wenbin noticed that Yingzi's face had an unusual flush.

At first, he thought it was just lingering anxiety from the exam, but now that they had been riding for a while, Yingzi was still the same.

"Are you feeling unwell or have a fever?"

"No, I feel fine. I was initially sick from nerves, but after taking Brother Zhao's remedy, I'm much better now."

Zhao Yi's remedy?

Tan Wenbin remembered the matter: that night Xiao Yuan didn't eat at home because Aunt Liu said Xiao Yuan's grandfather invited him over for dinner and specifically invited Zhao Yi.

Since Brother Xiao Yuan knew about it, Yingzi should be fine.

Besides, Zhao Yi had no reason to harm Brother Yuan's relatives.

It's just that it somehow looked like some miraculous recovery before a severe illness.

But considering it's the college entrance exam period, you can't even say it's a bad thing.

For physical tests, you can't use stimulants; in written tests, it shouldn't count as cheating, right?

If you know it, you know it; if not, there's no way stomping your feet excitedly will make the answers appear.

On the way, Tan Wenbin stopped at the entrance of a relatively large store to buy them drinks. This store had a standing fridge, and the drinks were chilled but not frozen like in Aunt Zhang's shop, where drinks turn into ice cubes.

The three of them wisely picked lemon soda in glass bottles, but Tan Wenbin pushed them aside and got canned drinks. The glass-bottled lemon soda was cheaper, but there was a chance it wasn't clean, causing a stomach ache.

After driving into the village, he parked the car, and the three thanked him once more as they got out.

Aunt Liu saw Tan Wenbin had returned and called out:

"Dinner time!"

Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou had just recovered and continued to supplement, so their appetites were big, while Run Sheng ate very little tonight.