Chapter 612: The Strange Light

The freshman and sophomore teaching buildings had been sealed off for several days already.

A ring of fences surrounded the area, barring unauthorized personnel from entering.

Security guards and school administrators stood at the entrance, waiting until the designated time to open a small passage and guide students inside.

Li Luo's Class Eight walked near the front center of the crowd, following the stream into the examination zone.

They had already confirmed their examination rooms and seats under school arrangements two days ago, so now they simply headed straight to their assigned rooms.

"Good luck—I'm heading up first."

Li Luo reached the staircase entrance of the freshman teaching building and spoke to Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng.

His examination room was No. 9, on the third floor of the freshman teaching building.

Ying Chanxi was assigned to Room No. 1, right beside the staircase entrance.

Yan Zhusheng, however, was placed in Room No. 11 in the sophomore teaching building; she waved goodbye to Li Luo and Ying Chanxi, then walked straight toward it.

Li Luo took a deep breath and followed the other students up to the third floor.

By the time they reached the third floor, only dozens of examinees remained, searching for Rooms No. 9 and No. 10.

Among them were several familiar faces.

Jian Zhenyuan from Class One, since Li Luo secured second place in the grade, had slipped from his former position as perennial second to third.

Shen Shuhua from Class Sixteen was their class monitor; she had once seemed interested in him…

But since the Fuyi Middle School Bible was exposed, she hadn't approached him much anymore.

Besides that, two students from Class Eight were in the same examination room as Li Luo.

Li Luo nodded to Liu Shaowen and Xie Shuchen, offering a brief greeting.

The former grunted softly; the latter chuckled, appearing anything but nervous.

Zhao Rongjun, who had climbed the stairs with Li Luo, was in the neighboring Room No. 10.

Li Luo turned to his best friend and patted his shoulder: "What were you saying to Yinghuan and Xinyan just now?"

"Just encouraging each other," Zhao Rongjun scratched his head, recalling what Xu Yinghuan had told him yesterday after school; he glanced at Li Luo, thought for a moment, then said nothing.

"Why did you suddenly glance at me?"

"N-nothing," Zhao Rongjun shook his head rapidly. "Just a bit nervous."

"Just perform normally," Li Luo raised his fist and tapped it against Zhao Rongjun's, then stepped into Room No. 9 and took his seat—No. 7, at the end of the second row by the window, following the serpentine seating arrangement.

One invigilator stood at the door, checking admission tickets and confirming that students had entered the correct room.

The other invigilator stood on the podium, periodically reminding everyone to check the information written on the blackboard.

Li Luo placed his transparent pencil case on the desk, propped his chin in his right hand, and gazed out the window, his thoughts shifting rapidly in his mind.

In his past life, when he took the college entrance exam, he was just an ordinary underachiever, with no expectations for the exam at all.

Scoring within the top hundred in this life's mock exam was something he could never have dreamed of in his past life.

In Qianjiang Province, there were over two hundred thousand candidates this year; to enter an undergraduate program, one needed at least a ranking within the top 120,000.

But in his past life, his ranking was only around 150,000.

Compared to now, it was a world apart—a chasm between heaven and earth.

As he thought this, Li Luo glanced around.

Fuyi Middle School held its own students' college entrance exam on campus; senior candidates didn't need to go elsewhere—they took the exam in the most familiar environment.

In other schools, like the ones Li Luo attended in his past life, whether one could take the exam on campus was pure luck.

The Fuyi Middle School students around Li Luo, dressed in their blue-and-white uniforms, were considered the elite of Yinjiang District.

Even students who ranked hundreds of places below in Fuyi's rankings were guaranteed admission to undergraduate programs.

Thinking of this, Li Luo felt a wave of emotion.

"The examination rules are now being announced," the invigilator began, following protocol, once all examinees had arrived.

Then, the two invigilators conducted a second check of everyone's admission tickets and the examination tools and water cups on their desks, repeatedly emphasizing: "If you forgot to leave your phone, smartwatch, or any other electronic device outside, retrieve them now."

Li Luo sat quietly in his seat, waiting for the invigilators to finish their inspection.

As the time neared nine o'clock, the teachers began distributing exam papers, answer sheets, scratch paper, and barcode labels.

Li Luo stared at the exam paper before him, took a deep breath, and carefully scanned every page, imprinting its contents into his memory palace.

Although the exam hadn't officially started, he could already solve the problems in his mind.

Hmm…

There were a few good pieces of news.

And one bad piece.

The good news: although many questions on the paper had changed from his past life, some remained identical—including the essay topic!

In his past life, although he hadn't checked answers for the high school entrance exam, he had seen the college entrance exam answers.

Now, after cross-referencing, he confirmed they were accurate—he could use them directly.

Though he could solve them himself, of course.

For the college entrance essay, although he hadn't read any perfect-scoring essays, he had studied numerous online analyses.

Combined with the several draft outlines he had prepared before the exam, he now felt fully prepared.

As for the bad news…

Hmm…

Li Luo stared silently at one reading comprehension passage; its title clearly read "A Delicious Dish."

He looked to the end of the passage.

【It was that fish!】

【It leapt from the pot onto the ground—it had clearly surpassed its limits】

【It has been dead for a long time now.】

【Yet a strange glimmer still flickers in its eyes.】

Fine, fine, fine—even the butterfly effect couldn't get rid of you.

That's just incredible.

Li Luo sighed with a wry smile, wondering how others would react when they reached the end of this article.

Especially the final question of the reading comprehension—it could stump a whole sea of examinees.

【The novel ends with an unexpected twist. What are the benefits of writing it this way?】

The author himself: "How the hell would I know what benefits there are?"

But while the author didn't know, Li Luo knew!

When the bell signaling the start of the Chinese exam finally rang.

All examinees picked up their pens; Li Luo began answering at the same time, swiftly writing his answers on the answer sheet.

In barely thirty minutes, Li Luo had finished everything except the essay.

The Chinese exam lasted two and a half hours total, yet after finishing the earlier sections, Li Luo still had two hours left.

If anyone else knew, they'd think this kid was cheating.

Well… technically, he was indeed cheating.

But the college entrance exam didn't prohibit Reborns from using their Memory Palace during the test, did it?

The proctor didn't mention that rule when reading out the exam regulations.

So it wasn't technically cheating.

Still, out of caution, Li Luo covered half his answer sheet, fearing the proctor might spot his fully filled-in answers and cause unnecessary trouble.

For the remaining time, Li Luo simply pulled out scratch paper, reviewed the several draft essays he'd prepared earlier, refined and structured them, then wrote one out on the scratch paper.

After finishing, he carefully polished the details, word choice, and phrasing—then completed his college entrance essay.

There was still over an hour left until the exam ended.

Li Luo flipped his answer sheet to the essay section, picked up his black pen, sat upright, and held the pen correctly.

Then he focused all his energy, concentrating intensely as he transferred the essay draft onto the answer sheet, ensuring not a single error, while keeping his handwriting exceptionally neat and legible.

With his Memory Palace, he could write printed characters directly.

When he finally finished filling in every word and phrase, only half an hour remained.

Li Luo fully revealed his answer sheet, no longer worried the proctor would suspect anything.

For the remaining time, he reviewed the entire test and answer sheet three times, until the ending bell rang!

All examinees, including Li Luo, put down their pens.

Thus, the Chinese exam officially ended.

A few students let out soft sighs, clearly dissatisfied with their performance—perhaps they hadn't even finished writing the essay.

But the college entrance exam was this cruel: only one chance.

No matter how well you performed in regular exams, one mistake on test day could cause irreversible damage.

Li Luo placed his hands on the edge of the desk, looked down at the essay on his answer sheet, and exhaled deeply.

The essay carried a full 60 points—far more important than the English essay.

But Li Luo didn't aim for a perfect score; such things were rare and unpredictable.

Still, with this carefully crafted essay, scoring high was effortless.

At least 55 points or more.

Li Luo estimated in his mind, then suddenly realized something.

Logically, top-performing students in this Jiangsu Province reform should have scored full marks—300—in all three elective subjects.

So the real gap would open up in Chinese, Math, and English.

And among these, Chinese was the most critical.

For top students, Chinese scores carried the greatest uncertainty.

Math and English, by contrast, had relatively fixed and accurate answers—everyone lost few points.

But Chinese was different.

Not even counting the essay, just the reading comprehension Li Luo had mocked was enough to create a several-point gap.

So…

Li Luo suddenly considered a possibility.

Maybe he had a shot at becoming the provincial top scorer?

If he could pull that off, he wouldn't have to worry about the flag he'd set in his new book's launch note.

Who else's score could make the provincial champion do an extra chapter?

Thinking of this, Li Luo secretly chuckled to himself.

When the proctors had collected and sealed all the exam papers, Li Luo followed the other students out of the exam room.

Before they even reached the stairs, someone nearby complained: "What the hell was that reading comprehension? How did you answer that strange glimmer?"

"Damn! You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? This question-setter's insane!"

Downstairs in the lobby, Li Luo met Ying Chanxi waiting by the stairwell, then waited for Yan Zhusheng to arrive from the Gao Er building.

As the three walked out, Li Luo held back a grin and asked: "How did you answer that strange glimmer?"

"I just filled in a few things—I don't know how many points I'll get," Ying Chanxi rubbed her temples, weary. "It echoes the title, connects to earlier hints in the text, and the fish never entered the soup—showing philosophical depth about flavor. That's about it."

Hearing this, Li Luo's face immediately showed admiration.

Though she hadn't covered everything, if the grader was lenient, she might still get full marks.

You can only say the top student in the grade still has something going for them.

Then Li Luo turned his gaze toward Yan Zhusheng.

Yan Zhusheng blinked his eyes, then shook his head: "I've forgotten what I wrote."

"And for a problem this hard, it doesn't matter if you get it wrong, right?"

"After all, 99% of people will get it wrong."

Li Luo: "..."

Well then.

I have to say, although Yan Zhusheng usually sounds a bit silly when he speaks.

But upon closer thought, it truly contained a very simple philosophy.

"The exam's over already, don't think about it anymore," Ying Chanxi shook her head. "Go home, eat a meal, take a nap—math's in the afternoon."

When they walked out of the exam hall, Kong Jun collected their admission tickets and told them to gather in the classroom precisely at two in the afternoon.

Some students whose homes were nearby were picked up by their parents to eat lunch and return to school in the afternoon.

Those who lived farther away stayed on campus, ate in the school cafeteria, then returned to their classrooms to study or rest.

After handing in their admission tickets, Li Luo and the others walked out the main gate of the First Affiliated High School, and immediately spotted the person come to pick them up.

"Hi~" Xu Youyu stood at the school gate, waving cheerfully at the three of them. "Lin Yi and the others are cooking at home—let's go."

"Yuan Auntie wanted to come pick you up too, but Uncle Ying worried she'd be recognized if she waited too long at the gate, so he stopped her."

"So she stayed home and cooked lunch with Lin Yi."

Xu Youyu said as they walked, "How did you do on the exam?"

"Not bad."

The four of them walked and chatted, and soon returned to Bihai Lanting.

As soon as they entered the house, they smelled the rich aroma drifting from the dining table.

But when Li Luo and the others approached the table and took a look, they exchanged glances, then burst out laughing.

"What's wrong?" Lin Xiuhong asked, puzzled, noticing their eyes fixed on the fish soup she'd cooked. "Is there something wrong with my fish head soup?"

"No problem, no problem," Li Luo waved his hand with a strange expression, then glanced down at where the fish eyes should've been. "Mom, where are the fish eyes?"

"They fell into the soup. If you want them, help yourself—good for your eyes."

"Nah, forget it."

(End of Chapter)