Chapter 78: The Bastard Cousin

May 7, the first Friday after Labor Day, Li Ye woke up early.

Today, he was attending his first "somewhat important" exam since his transmigration—the college entrance pre-exam, commonly abbreviated as yùkǎo.

The pre-exam system, in existence for nine years in Shenzhou, used uniform questions and a unified examination across every province, municipality, and autonomous region.

Thus, all senior high school graduates and repeaters in Dongshan Province would begin a three-day fate-deciding elimination contest.

By May in Qingshui County, stoves were no longer needed for heating, so a new stove had been built in the courtyard of the second grain store, with a simple canopy erected as a kitchen.

Li Ye woke up early today and temporarily took on the role of cook to prepare breakfast for the eight-person group.

But after picking up a plastic bucket in the kitchen, he discovered the peanut oil was gone.

“No peanut oil again? Living right next to the grain and oil shop and still running out—old man’s really stingy.”

People in Qingshui County preferred soybean oil; peanut oil was significantly more expensive and in shorter supply.

Jiang Xiaoyan usually cooked with soybean oil.

Li Ye preferred peanut oil.

Grandfather Li Zhong had always taught Li Ye: even if you have money, don’t forget your roots—soybean oil is plenty good enough; why eat peanut oil every day?

Even this soybean oil was specially allocated to Li Ye and the others by his uncle, the bureau chief!

Remember, urban residents in the 1980s got only four taels of oil per Spring Festival.

Soybean oil dishes tasted fine, but whenever Jiang Xiaoyan cooked, Li Ye always kept far away.

Those who’d never eaten soybean oil didn’t know—the smell when it sizzled in the hot wok was overpowering; one whiff shot straight from the nose to the forehead.

“Sizzle~”

Scallion greens sizzled in the boiling soybean oil, releasing an unbearable odor; Li Ye held his breath as he poured water into the pot.

Though Li Ye knew how to cook, he was lazy.

He had no interest in making dumplings, pancakes, or wonton noodles—just fried eggs in oil with noodles: quick, easy, and filling.

Just then, Jiang Xiaoyan and Hu Man arrived.

Seeing the thick layer of oil floating on the water’s surface, Jiang Xiaoyan nearly scolded Li Ye again.

It was just breakfast—used to be nothing but cold steamed buns—but now this oil layer could make two full meals.

There was once a joke that perfectly illustrated the common people’s attitude toward oil back then.

Someone went to the grain and oil shop with a jar to buy oil; after filling it, they realized they’d forgotten their money and had to pour it all back.

Then they’d go home, scrape the residual oil off the jar’s walls with bamboo slats, and make a “richly oily” meal.

As long as you had thick enough skin and went every few months, your household would never go without meat.

“Alright, you handle the rest. Two eggs each.

We’re eating lunch at the No.1 Middle School cafeteria today—that food’s fit for pigs; if you get weak from poor nutrition and mess up the exam, don’t blame me.”

Li Ye tossed the ladle aside and stepped away from the stove.

“What do you mean ‘fit for pigs’? Say that out loud and you’ll get beaten.”

Jiang Xiaoyan muttered as she walked to the stove, readying noodles and eggs, waiting for the water to boil.

Months of refined grain feeding had quietly spoiled the eight-person group’s taste, but none would admit it—people mustn’t forget their roots.

If this got back home, their fathers and mothers would chase them two miles with rolling pins.

【Look at what kind of breed you are—still eating fine bran?】

At nearly seven, Wen Leyu shuffled in for breakfast, her steps sluggish but her spirits high.

This was one of Li Ye’s key training successes—the benefit of beauty sleep.

Previously, the girl was malnourished and slept poorly, her face pale and bloodless.

After Li Ye noticed, he relentlessly drilled into her the benefits of sufficient sleep for skin and appearance.

She didn’t fully understand, but she was obedient; gradually, she grew accustomed to it, and now her complexion was vastly improved, with a stubborn habit of oversleeping to rival Li Ye’s.

After finishing their hearty egg noodles, the eight-person group headed to No.2 Middle School and joined the waiting line for departure.

Since it was a provincial exam, test sites couldn’t be arranged by individual schools, and the dispatched invigilators from other areas couldn’t travel dozens of kilometers to rural high schools.

So all Qingshui County examinees took the pre-exam at high schools and middle schools within the county.

Single person, single desk—identical to the actual college entrance exam.

“Everyone, be quiet—I’ll repeat the rules again... Obey all instructions, raise your hand to report any issue, no disorder in the four-column formation... Depart!”

Director Jin Feiyu delivered a brief speech, then led the No.2 Middle School examinees out the school gate.

Thanks to their location in the county seat, they could depart together in the morning and arrive on time.

But schools from distant townships like Hebin and Liuqiao, thirty or forty li away, had to arrive the day before.

This wasn’t the future, where twenty kilometers took less than half an hour by vehicle—many students had to walk.

Walk five hours in the morning, then take an exam?

Nonsense!

After arriving in the county, few stayed at inns; most bunked at the exam schools, and if dorms were full, they brought their own bedding and slept on the floor in classrooms.

So the sight of hundreds carrying bedding on foot resembled a military march—years later, it still felt amusing.

If any student’s parent had connections and provided a truck, that student was unquestionably the proudest kid in school.

As the No.2 Middle School marching line passed the Post and Telecommunications Bureau, it crossed paths with the No.1 Middle School group.

Perhaps due to pre-exam anxiety, everyone was silent, the atmosphere heavy.

Li Ye spotted Lu Zixue in the No.1 Middle School line—somewhat surprised, since Lu Zixue was a first-year student this year.

In the early 1980s, many provinces, including Dongshan, used a “ten-year system” curriculum.

That meant five years of primary, three of junior high, and two of senior high—so Qingshui County’s high schools still had only two years, changing to three-year programs around 1984–85.

Thus, Lu Zixue, a first-year student, taking the college entrance exam early wasn’t extraordinary; another failed attempt would benefit his official exam next year.

As for Lu Zixue passing on his first try, Li Ye thought the odds slim.

Lu Jingyao, once the top student at No.2 Middle School, could compete with the top three seeds from No.1 Middle School—she’d barely slipped into Beijing Foreign Languages College by “cheating” the system.

In the early 1980s, when English talent was scarce and basic English education abysmal, a decent English score could lower admission thresholds by twenty or thirty points.

Lu Jingyao had scored nearly perfect on English last year—admitted under special dispensation.

In truth, her base scores might not have even reached the undergraduate cutoff.

So even if Lu Zixue studied hard, how could a first-year kid compete with repeaters who’d been prepping for the exam for years?

And with a college graduate right at home, a pearl shining ahead, with Lu Zixue’s mix of inferiority and arrogance, and this being his first try, would he dare to apply to a junior college?

Failure was certain.

At the crossroads in the northern part of town, the No.2 Middle School students split, heading to No.1 Middle School and Yuhong Middle School.

Li Ye was assigned to No.1 Middle School; once there, all students were completely mixed, reassigned randomly into classrooms of first-year, second-year, and repeater classes alongside students from two rural high schools.

Naturally, the eight-person group couldn’t stay together—only Jiang Xiaoyan and Li Ye shared a test room, plus a few repeater class students Li Ye vaguely knew.

But shortly after he sat down, someone took the seat to his right.

It was his cousin, Cui Aiguo, from his aunt’s side.

Li Ye blinked in surprise, then decided to greet him—only for the bastard to turn his head and pretend not to recognize Li Ye.

【Fine, real fine. We don’t know each other. Whoever speaks to whom is a bastard.】

First exam: Chinese.

The invigilator was strict, rattling off exam rules as if cheating warranted a five-year sentence.

Li Ye couldn’t shake the feeling—the foreign female teacher kept glancing his way as she emphasized discipline, leaving him puzzled.

【Could it be I’m too handsome? Or is it my watch?】

Li Ye hadn’t dressed flashy today—he wore the jeans brought by Jin Peng and others, and only wore a Swiss Meihua watch he wasn’t sure was genuine.

Hao Jian knew Li Ye was taking the exam on May 7 and needed to track time, so he urgently telegraphed San Shui, who was in Yangcheng, to find him a decent watch.

In 1982, buying a Shanghai watch still required a Shanghai watch quota; Yangcheng had water traders, so San Shui went through hoops and paid extra to get this Swiss watch.

Li Ye had never owned a watch in his past life and couldn’t tell real from fake, but the design and finish were exquisite, dazzling.

Just now, when Li Ye lifted his arm and revealed the watch from under his sleeve, his bastard cousin Cui Aiguo nearly stared with his jaw dropped.

【Pfft, drool all you want—don’t you dare recognize me!】

Once the exam papers were distributed, Li Ye picked up his pen and began writing, the scratch of ink never pausing.

Too easy—the first section was pinyin, but not obscure characters; just common, everyday words.

【This question is water.】

The moment this thought crossed Li Ye’s mind, the female teacher’s sharp voice rang from the podium.

“No looking at others’ papers—caught again, and your paper will be confiscated immediately.”

【Who’s this idiot so unlucky? Need to cheat on this question?】

Li Ye looked up—and saw several students quickly turning back, their stolen glances clearly aimed at him.

Among them were students from No.2 Middle School, his cousin Cui Aiguo, and even Jiang Xiaoyan.

【Didn’t I tell them the exam rules? How could they be so careless and get caught?】

Li Ye didn’t understand Jiang Xiaoyan’s behavior—but five minutes later, he noticed faint sweat behind her ears.

He suddenly realized: Jiang Xiaoyan’s pinyin skills were terrible.

At the second grain store, Li Ye mainly tutored the group in math, physics, chemistry, and English—subjects that could make or break scores.

He had no strong advantage in Chinese or politics, especially politics—he avoided it entirely to hide his true background.

His Chinese knowledge was limited to quick-fix essay techniques.

So he truly didn’t understand Jiang Xiao’s and the others’ language proficiency, at most knowing how many points they could score and roughly where they ranked in class.

【This psychological resilience is truly worrying!】