Chapter 8: Postgraduate Entrance Exam Papers

After resolving the topic selection and manuscript writing, the two followed a chronological order, starting from kindergarten, to account for their respective life resumes and social connections in minute detail, so as to prevent any more blunders like Di Ye not recognizing a classmate or Di Ye not recognizing a colleague.

This task was extremely tedious and took over two hours to sort out roughly. Di Ye had the help of a mobile phone and computer in 2023, and with plenty of photos and video materials, it was very easy to recall; Di Ye in 1995 had it rough, using a fountain pen to write dozens of pages of notes, leaving his wrists aching.

"I haven't written this many words since I graduated from high school."

Di Ye looked at the crooked handwriting in the notebook and complained, "Everything in 1995 is fine, except that electronic products are too outdated, and there is no internet, which is very inconvenient."

Di Ye held the mobile phone, organizing the WeChat contacts while comforting him, "I read in the materials last night that 1995 is the first year of the internet in China. Beijing and Pujiang already had internet in January, and Yuncheng should be connected soon."

In 1995, the postal and telecommunications system had not yet been split, and due to a lack of market competition, work efficiency was very low. Di Ye did not hold out much hope, picked up his freshly brewed coffee, and said, "By the time I graduate in July, Yuncheng might not even have internet... By the way, which school did you apply to for your postgraduate entrance exam?"

"Jinling University."

Upon hearing this, Di Ye choked on his coffee, put down the cup, coughed twice, and asked, "Don't you have no feelings for Xia Fangfei? Why did you apply to Jinling University again?"

"I applied to Jinling University because Professor Liu suggested it, it has nothing to do with Xia Fangfei. Jinling University has the State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology."

"It seems you really have a true love for software programming."

"I do like programming. If you don't like it, just go through the motions when you take the postgraduate exam."

In the 90s, the postgraduate entrance exam was generally scheduled for the weekend two weeks before the Spring Festival. In 1995, New Year's Eve was January 30th, so the exam was on January 14th and 15th, just after the final exams at Yun University.

Di Ye flipped through the desk calendar, pondered for a moment, and said, "I'll go take it. You find the 1995 postgraduate entrance exam papers for me online, and I'll prepare in advance and strive for a high score."

Di Ye's imagination wasn't big enough; he had never thought of this way of cheating and said in surprise, "You can do that?"

"Why not?"

"But if you do this, even if you get a high score, you'll be exposed during the re-examination."

Di Ye hadn't thought about his future development plans yet, so he said, "Let's take it one step at a time. Let's pass the preliminary exam first, and we'll talk about the re-examination later."

After staying up all night, Di Ye was already proficient in using the browser and search engine. It only took a few seconds to find the 1995 national unified exam papers for mathematics, English, and politics. Finding that they came with reference answers, he solemnly reminded him, "These papers are top-secret materials on your side, so don't leak them, otherwise you'll get into big trouble."

Di Ye laughed and said, "There's a printer at home. You print these papers out, and on the day of the exam, we'll video call. You put the papers in front of the Light Screen, and I'll copy the answers on the spot. As long as no one else can see the Light Screen, it's impossible to leak."

Di Ye had thought he would memorize the answers, but he didn't expect him to play it like this, and said dumbfounded, "You really are a genius at cheating!"

"Average, average, I just have more experience."

"That's fine, it's safe. But besides mathematics, English, and politics, there are professional courses for the postgraduate exam. The professional courses are set by Jinling University itself. I wonder if they are online?"

No one can resist the temptation of using a Golden Finger to cheat, and Di Ye was no exception. Although he couldn't take the postgraduate exam himself, he still had a strong sense of participation. He opened the official website of the Computer Science Department of Jinling University, looked at it for a while, and said distressingly, "There are no professional course papers for the 1995 postgraduate exam on here."

"In your era, the postgraduate entrance exam is a very profitable business. For a prestigious school like Jinling University, there must be people selling past exam questions for various majors online. I'll teach you how to find them."

Under Di Ye's guidance, Di Ye soon found a shop specializing in selling postgraduate entrance exam materials. He bought a copy of the past exam questions for the computer major at Jinling University. After downloading and looking through them, he saw that the 1995 questions were mainly about Compilation Principles and Operating Systems. Feeling his hands itch, he said, "I'll print them out and try doing them."

"You do that, I'm going to have dinner."

It was already 7 o'clock in the evening, and the cafeteria only had leftovers. Di Ye had no choice but to go outside the school to eat a bowl of beef noodles, then went to the dormitory to borrow the lecture notes for the class he missed in the morning, so he could take them back for Di Ye to help him prepare for the final exam.

Only Zhu Zichun was in the dormitory. He was wrapped in a quilt like in the morning, leaning against the head of the bed reading *Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre*. Seeing Di Ye come in, he said, "Professor Liu was looking for you this afternoon and asked you to go to his office."

According to the information introduced by Di Ye, Professor Liu was his Thesis Advisor and was very capable. Di Ye had a headache and asked, "Did he say what he wanted with me?"

"No, he just told you to go over."

"Then I'll go tomorrow morning."

Di Ye asked Zhu Zichun for the lecture notes, and while copying the key points, he asked, "Why are you the only one here? Where are the others?"

"Xiao Gao was called away by his girlfriend, Su Zhaonian and Dong Jianzhong went to the video hall outside the West Gate to watch a movie, and the rest are cramming for the exam by going to study."

"What movie are they watching? An erotic action film?"

"Aren't movies just these two types of content? Either talking about love or fighting and killing."

"They can also be combined, using intense physical movements in a small space to express the beauty of love."

Zhu Zichun only then reacted, laughing loudly, "You're really vicious, actually describing pornographic films so euphemistically."

The two were laughing and joking when a short, chubby boy pushed open the dormitory door. He was slightly stunned when he saw Di Ye, then took out a black rectangular object and said, "Di Ye, so you're in the dormitory. That's perfect. I just ran into Shi Yucheng, and he said he found your BB Pager and asked me to bring it over."

"Many thanks."

The BB Pager was a trendy item in 1995, a symbol of status and very cool, but Di Ye was completely uninterested in it. He casually put it in his pocket and asked, "Lin Jiayong, why did you invite me to dinner last night?"

Lin Jiayong pretended to be generous, waved his hand, and said, "Yesterday was New Year's Day, so classmates gathered for a meal to liven things up."

"Why did you only invite me, and not Zhu Zichun? You two are good friends who often read novels together."

Zhu Zichun didn't know about last night's events, and upon hearing this, he said unhappily, "Exactly, Lin Jiayong, you invited Di Ye but didn't invite me. That's not cool. You must invite us again tomorrow, otherwise, we're breaking off our friendship."

Lin Jiayong was stingy and couldn't save face, so he hurriedly explained, "The dinner last night was organized by Peng Guangzhou from Class 3. I just helped call people."

"He specifically asked you to invite me?"

"Yeah, he said it didn't matter about others, but you had to be invited."

"And then you all collectively forced me to drink white liquor?"

Lin Jiayong's face stiffened, and he smirked, "Peng Guangzhou is jealous that you got the internship spot at IBM and wanted to see you make a fool of yourself."

Zhu Zichun threw the *Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre* in his hand at him and cursed, "You brat, you actually dared to betray your own! Di Ye getting the spot is the glory of all of us in Class 1. You helped people from Class 3 set him up, are you tired of living?"

Lin Jiayong was hit squarely, bent down to pick up the book, and complained, "I didn't set him up. I helped block a lot of drinks for him last night, and later I even sent Di Ye back to the rented house to sleep, right Di Ye?"

Di Ye stared at him for a while, then smiled and said, "Things from last night can't just end like this. In a few days, I'll organize a dinner too. When the time comes, you call Peng Guangzhou over, and I'll accompany him for a few drinks."

"Fine, I'll drink him under the table then."

After Lin Jiayong left, Zhu Zichun asked Di Ye to hand the *Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre* back to him and said, "Peng Guangzhou plays games all day and has failed several courses; he has no right to be jealous of you. He forced you to drink; it must have been instigated by Shi Yucheng. This guy thinks highly of himself but is narrow-minded. From freshman to senior year, he's been overshadowed by you, and he's almost gone mad with jealousy."

"I think so too."

When Di Ye was framed, the most important evidence was that his BB Pager was at the scene of the crime, and there were only his fingerprints on the device. Because he was drunk, he could never explain clearly when he lost the BB Pager.

So when Shi Yucheng took the initiative to reveal that he had found the BB Pager in a public phone booth, it confirmed that his drunkenness was Shi Yucheng's doing. This guy didn't usually live in the dormitory, yet last night he happened to be wandering around near the restaurant outside the Beimen. How could there be such a coincidence?

After finishing copying the lecture notes, Di Ye returned to the rented Tongzi Building and explained the matter of the BB Pager. After listening, Di Ye said, "Xia Fangfei isn't dead, and you've sold the internship spot. This matter can't be pursued anymore."

"That won't do. It must be pursued to the end. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth is my life motto. Shi Yucheng is vicious and must pay the price. Did you check him in 2023?"

"I checked last night, there is no information about him online."

"In 2023, he'll be almost 50 years old. If he were a successful person, it would be impossible for there to be no information about him online."

"Shi Yucheng has decent ability, but his personality is poor; he is arrogant and aloof, doesn't get along with others, and the probability of him succeeding is very low. After his father was sentenced and imprisoned, he will certainly be implicated as well."

"That's true."