[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-1987-my-era":3,"chapter-1987-my-era-1987-my-era-chapter-57":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","1987: My Era",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2259217,4409,"Chapter 57: Too Desperate to Progress","1987-my-era-chapter-57",57,"\u003Cp>Leaving the exam room, Li Heng caught up with Mai Sui and handed back the pen: “Mai Sui, thanks for the pen. Here you go.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mai Sui didn’t take it. “No rush, keep using it. Return it after the exam.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then she leaned in and asked, “Did you really finish this whole paper?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, many people around turned to look.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng had wanted to be modest, but then remembered Teacher Luo had already betrayed him—further modesty would seem fake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he grunted, “Maybe I got lucky. I just filled every blank with something, but I don’t know if it’s right.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fuck! You call that luck? Are you trying to kill me? I might not even pass!” Liu Li groaned, having always thought he was decent at math—only to be humiliated so badly this time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Li Heng! Li Heng! What did you pick for the last multiple-choice question?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Li Heng was thinking how to comfort Liu Li, a loud voice suddenly came from the corridor entrance—Yang Cheng, his hometown buddy, charged up from the second floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng answered, “I picked A.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Holy shit! I picked A too! I’m so damn awesome, bro! I just knew A was meant for me the second I saw it!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Cheng ranked 119th in last semester’s final exam, barely scraping in this time—he was desperate to break into the top 100 and was almost obsessed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After confirming one answer, Yang Cheng blurted out again: “Third fill-in-the-blank—what did you write?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng thought back and said, “Something like root three.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes! Really! I’m so damn good!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chubby Yang Cheng jumped up excitedly. “You don’t know—half our class couldn’t solve this. I did it once and got it right!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that, Yang Cheng threw his head back and laughed loudly, slinging his arm over Li Heng’s shoulder: “This is solid! Top 100 for sure—maybe even top 30 for the scholarship! I’ll treat you to soda when I make it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone in the first exam room was quiet, but Yang Cheng, a regular-class kid, was shouting like a fool—completely out of place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zou Aiming, also from the former town, asked: “Yang Cheng, how many of the last three big questions did you solve?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Cheng didn’t answer right away—he turned urgently to Li Heng: “Li Heng, did you solve them? You probably couldn’t either, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng smiled, not wanting to crush his confidence before his next exams: “Nope. I left them blank too.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Cheng turned to his acquaintance Xiao Feng: “Xiao Feng, what about you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiao Feng glanced at Li Heng, then shook her head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shit! I knew it—you two couldn’t do them either. No one could. Who the hell wrote these questions? Total nonsense!” Yang Cheng had tensed up for a second, then hugged Zou Aiming and burst into laughter again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just then, Teacher Luo emerged from the exam room carrying a stack of papers and grabbed Yang Cheng’s ear:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Disrespectful brat—what class are you from? I’m telling your homeroom teacher.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Cheng didn’t know Teacher Luo well and wasn’t scared of him—but he terrified of the deputy headmaster behind him, so he instantly caved: “Teacher, I’m sorry! Please just treat me like a fart and let me go, please!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey! You’re flexible!” Teacher Luo chuckled at his exaggerated expression and actually let him go.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But before leaving, Teacher Luo added with a sly grin: “Jieji, if you want top 30, you need at least 90 in math—otherwise, forget it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once the teacher was far away, Yang Cheng counted on his fingers and beamed: “Minus the last three big questions worth 32 points, I’ve still got 88. Eighty is easy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe I’ll actually hit 90—those last questions, I filled them with formulas. I’ll get some points for sure.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With Yang Cheng’s antics, the mood instantly improved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They called Yang Cheng a “living treasure” because he always came to Li Heng after every math exam to compare answers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And every time, he’d puff out his chest claiming he’d score this or that—only for his actual score to fall far short.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over time, everyone in the first exam room got used to him and just watched for amusement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The following politics, history, and geography exams were much easier. They were hard too, but not like math—where if you didn’t know, you just stared blankly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Politics, history, and geography were different—they were like Chinese: full of subjective questions. Even if you didn’t know, you could still write something, which eased the mind considerably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The last subject was English—multiple choice, grammar, cloze, reading, listening—he finished it all in one breath. The feeling? Not as good as he’d hoped, but decent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He guessed he’d messed up several grammar and cloze questions, but reading and listening felt effortless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he turned in his paper and walked out, Li Heng asked Song Yu: “How’d you do?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Yu replied: “Besides math, everything else was fine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then she looked at him with a faint smile. “And you? With your math advantage, you must’ve done really well.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng stayed silent until the people behind passed by, then said slowly: “I don’t know yet. Maybe I’ll finally fulfill a dream I’ve had for a long time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Yu asked quietly: “What dream?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng stared into her eyes for three full seconds—but didn’t reveal his secret. As he passed her, he said: “Guess. You’re smart—you might figure it out.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng walked off, his bladder bursting—he had to rush to the restroom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Yu quietly watched his back, and a strange voice inside her whispered: His dream might be connected to me…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She trusted her intuition—it had always been right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this time, she was afraid of it, and didn’t want to think further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Li Heng leave, Mai Sui, who had been waiting on the other side of the corridor, walked over and teased her:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Song Yu, do you know what you just looked like?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Yu’s eyes sparkled. “What?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mai Sui linked arms with her, a sly glint in her eyes, and said slowly: “The Stone That Waits for a Husband.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Yu smiled prettily at her friend’s teasing—but didn’t take it seriously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today was Sunday—half a day off after the exam.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally having free time, Li Heng, like everyone else, washed and hung out his accumulated dirty clothes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Zou Aiming and Zhang Zhiyong called him to play basketball—Liu Li was there too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because they both secretly liked Chen Lijun, Zou Aiming had completely broken ties with Liu Yejiang. During a break, he said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lao Heng, if you beat Liu Yejiang by 20 points, I’ll treat you to stir-fry at the staff cafeteria.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Free food—especially a feast—was all Li Heng needed. He didn’t know the meaning of politeness: “Can I order whatever I want?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zou Aiming patted his pocket. “Since I’m treating, you can order anything.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng grinned. “Alright, I’ll remember. I’ll crush them two during the game—won’t crush you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Zhang Zhiyong—who’d just been thoroughly beaten—immediately protested, cursing:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You son of a bitch! We’ve been together all winter break and you never touched a basketball—how’d you suddenly get this good?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Li nodded in deep agreement: “I think Li Heng’s been secretly evolving behind our backs.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Heng ignored them, full of energy, and dragged the three back onto the court to crush them again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>PS: Request monthly votes! Request follows!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1232,"2026-06-19T15:27:33.982Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","8b9e2eb806956eae50ab844bb04b843d7a25db8896778cb2013a1e6605ea3eee","1987-my-era-chapter-58","1987-my-era-chapter-56",713,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002F1987-my-era-cover.jpg"]