Restart life

Chapter 243 0240 [Just barely passing the first-tier university entrance exam cutoff, and you can apply to the top-ranked major in the country?]

Beijing Capital International Airport.

Chen Guiliang said to Tao Xue, "This year is the first time Sichuan has set its own college entrance examination questions, so the scores may be very chaotic, and the situation regarding filling out college applications will be even more chaotic. Don't be sad no matter what score you get, and don't hesitate too much when filling out your applications."

"Yes, I know." Tao Xue nodded.

During Chen Guiliang's final exams, Tao Xue not only traveled around, but also visited eight universities with her parents.

They were all admitted with scores similar to hers.

Chen Guiliang finished his final exams, and Tao Xue should be going back to check her scores and fill out her college application soon.

Chen Guiliang had heard of this year's college entrance examination in Sichuan in his previous life, but he was not particularly clear about the specific details.

The general situation seems to be that students from Chengdu and Mianyang are crowding into the high-scoring range across the province. Other cities, on the other hand, have generally performed poorly, with Longdu City being the worst affected.

But at the time, no one knew the full picture.

High-scoring students in Chengdu and Mianyang were alarmed to find that many of their classmates were also high-scoring, so they became very conservative when filling out their college applications.

Students in other cities, on the other hand, were collectively lost and confused.

Some students barely passed the cutoff score for prestigious universities, meaning they would normally have no chance of being admitted. However, some students decided to give up, not only applying to top universities but also deliberately choosing desirable majors and refusing to accept any other majors offered. After submitting their applications, they went home to study for a year of high school, and incredibly, they were admitted to prestigious universities and their preferred majors.

This was the first time the province had independently set its own exam questions, and neither the teachers nor the students had any experience, so everyone could only fill in the answers randomly.

Tao Xue returned to her hometown, and at 10 p.m. the next day, she could check her scores on her mobile phone.

After the investigation, Tao Xue was completely stunned.

Her parents could only try to comfort her, but to no avail; they were so frightened that they kept telling her not to do anything foolish.

The next day, I went to school.

Tao Xue attended a regular class in her first year of high school. When the students were divided into arts and science classes in her second year, she was selected for the arts experimental class based on her first-year final exam scores.

The homeroom teacher, a woman in her forties, announced with a smile, "The city's top liberal arts student is in our class. Congratulations, Li Qian..."

After the celebration, the homeroom teacher called Li Qian, the top liberal arts student in the city, aside into the corridor: "I called my friends and they said there are tons of high scores in Chengdu and Mianyang. Moreover, this year's situation is very strange; Peking University's admission cutoff score for liberal arts is only 4 points higher than Tsinghua University's. This has never happened before. I can't give any advice; you can decide for yourself."

Li Qian's college entrance examination score exceeded the admission cut-off line for Tsinghua and Peking Universities by more than 10 points.

However, in Chengdu and Mianyang alone, the number of students with higher scores than her exceeded the total number of places that Tsinghua and Peking Universities would admit in Sichuan.

The top liberal arts student in the city, after much deliberation, chose Renmin University as his major when filling out his college application.

Upon learning the news, Tao Xue became even more emotionally distraught.

She called Chen Guiliang to complain: "Senior, I did badly on the exam."

Chen Guiliang asked, "Don't panic. Tell me what happened?"

Tao Xue said, "In my three mock exams, I scored about 30 points above the first-tier university cutoff. This time, I only scored 6 points above it. What an embarrassing score! If I apply to a first-tier university, it will be very difficult for me to be admitted as my first choice."

"Just accept the assignment," Chen Guiliang suggested.

Given the situation in Sichuan this year, even Zhang Xuefeng would be at a loss, because the college application process is in a state of chaos. Students are filling out applications haphazardly, which greatly affects the admissions process for various universities.

Tao Xue said, "This year, both the arts and sciences at No. 2 High School are phenomenal. The city's top arts student is in our class. I just asked her what school she applied to, and she actually said she applied to Renmin University."

"What an unlucky kid," Chen Guiliang remarked.

Tao Xue said, "I'll take a closer look."

She hung up the phone and looked at the reference books the school had given her again and again.

Tao Chenggang learned about the situation from his parents and invited an "expert" to help with the investigation.

Even the "expert" was somewhat bewildered this year, because he was incredibly knowledgeable and had access to a vast amount of information. But the more he knew, the less his brain could keep up.

"What are your requirements for your major?" the expert asked.

Tao Xue said, "I don't have any requirements, the closer to Peking University the better."

The expert suggested, "Please list ethnology at the Central University for Nationalities as your first choice. It's their flagship program, ranked first in the country. However, it's very unpopular, and the number of applicants from Sichuan is always insufficient. Your score should be enough for admission."

This is a very unusual way to find a bargain.

Back in 2006, considering only ethnology, the Central University for Nationalities ranked first, Yunnan University for Nationalities ranked second, and Peking University only ranked third.

However, despite being ranked number one in the country, this major doesn't attract many students from Sichuan Province. There have even been absurd cases of students applying to less desirable but highly competitive majors being reassigned to top-tier programs.

I'm not sure about other provinces, but this has certainly been the case in Sichuan in recent years.

Of course, as information becomes easier to access, the actual admission scores for this major at Minzu University of China will continue to rise.

"what?"

Tao Xue had absolutely no idea about ethnology, so she asked, "Can I apply for journalism or Chinese language and literature? I'm somewhat interested in those two."

The expert said, "If it's the Journalism or Chinese Language Department at Minzu University of China, it will be difficult for you to get in with your score. You can apply, but you have to accept being assigned to another major. You might end up in some random, undesirable major, so it's better to apply directly to Ethnology, their flagship major."

Tao Xue then asked, "What about the other schools?"

The expert said, "I could have given you a lot of advice, but you specifically requested a place close to Peking University. Another option is China University of Petroleum, where majors like English, Economics, Public Administration, Business Administration, and Ideological and Political Education are all relatively stable. However, this university has a different focus; for example, English emphasizes energy trade, and Ideological and Political Education emphasizes Party building within the oilfield." The expert went on to recommend several other schools and, based on Tao Xue's wishes, provided a complete application plan.

Her first choice was the Central University for Nationalities, which is not only close to Peking University but also even closer to Renmin University. She could even visit Renmin University to hang out with this year's unfortunate top scorer in the city.

Moreover, Tao Xuezhen applied directly to ethnology!

Although she had no idea what the point of learning this thing was.

But Tao Xue still harbored some fantasies. She had recently been reading "Ghost Blows Out the Light" and was thinking that she could study those legendary ethnic groups in the future.

Jingjue Kingdom seems to belong to the Ghost Cave tribe. Did this tribe really exist in history, or was it just made up by the novel's author?

Tao Xue called Chen Guiliang and said, "Haha, I'm going to be an explorer after I graduate, specializing in studying those lost ethnic groups and civilizations."

Chen Guiliang was both amused and exasperated: "You've read too much 'Ghost Blows Out the Light,' don't take novels seriously."

“I don’t care, I’ve already filled out my application,” Tao Xue said, then complained, “What a mess this year’s college entrance exam was. I heard from experts that the whole of Sichuan is in chaos right now. No matter how high or low scores are, nobody knows how to fill out their applications.”

Alas, Tao Xue was unlucky enough to be the guinea pig for the province's first self-designed exam.

……

Beijing.

Yang Shuo was in charge of driving, while Chen Guiliang and Bian Guanyue sat in the back.

She was about to leave Beijing after finishing her monthly exams at the border. During the summer vacation, she planned to return to Sichuan to continue learning from folk artists.

She's become obsessed with this over the past year.

"Which school did Tao Xue apply to?" Bian Guanyue asked.

Chen Guiliang said, "Minzu University is located a little south of Renmin University. And it's a university that studies ethnology. I find it hard to imagine that she chose this major."

Bian Guanyue thought to herself: They've really caught up with us all the way to the capital. Ugh, how annoying!
Chen Guiliang made several more phone calls and eventually got through to a classmate from Peking University who was studying ethnology.

The classmate was speechless: "What's going on? In Sichuan, you can get into the ethnology program at the Central University for Nationalities with just a few points above the first-tier university cutoff? Seriously, what's the big deal about me getting into Peking University with such high scores and being assigned to ethnology? Her major is even ranked higher than our Peking University's!"

This is obviously just idle talk; the two universities have different focuses, with Peking University's ethnology being more international.

After chatting for a while, Chen Guiliang hung up the phone.

He said to Bian Guanyue, "I just asked. Tao Xue's major requires students to do fieldwork in their third year, and it seems they have to travel to ethnic minority areas. That's similar to your idea; you also want to go to those areas to collect folk songs."

I don't know what Bian Guanyue was thinking, but she smiled and said, "It's perfect to go with her to Yunnan Province. I'll do folk song research, and she'll do ethnic fieldwork."

Chen Guiliang thought to himself: It's good that you two don't start arguing; no one would believe you'd go together.

He really didn't intend for Bian Guanyue to know, but Tao Xue just happened to call.

Nokia's speakers are quite loud; even without speakerphone, people nearby can still faintly hear them.

They arrived at the airport in no time, where Yang Shuo waited in the car. Chen Guiliang helped Bian Guanyue with her suitcase, accompanied her to check in, and then sat at the airport to wait.

“My sister is almost at the final agreement with the factory, and she should be able to secure the factory by the end of the month,” Bian Guanyue said.

Chen Guiliang said, "We'll sign it when the time comes. It's her first time running a factory, so it's normal for her to lose money. I'm just investing with my royalties out of respect for you."

Bian Guanyue smiled, seemingly having forgotten about Tao Xue.

The two chatted sweet nothings together until it was almost time, at which point Bian Guanyue got up to go through security.

"Let's give each other a goodbye kiss," Chen Guiliang said with a smile.

Bian Guanyue glanced around and, seeing that there were quite a few people, blushed and said, "I won't do it."

Chen Guiliang said, "What's there to be afraid of?"

“Then close your eyes,” Bian Guanyue said.

Chen Guiliang obediently closed his eyes, felt a kiss on his cheek, and when he opened his eyes again, Bian Guanyue had already run to the security checkpoint to queue up.

Chen Guiliang breathed a sigh of relief after she passed through the security checkpoint.

Back at the company, Chen Guiliang made several phone calls.

Wang Hao's team is still working on revamping the music forum, but the name of the platform after its transformation into a commercial music platform has already been decided as "Xiami Music".

Chen Guiliang didn't know why Wang Hao liked this broken name, but he didn't need to care about it.

Then he asked Xu Yuteng.

Xu Yuteng is a nobody at EMI Records, having been sidelined for over half a year. Now he's threatening to resign, and they're demanding he pay a penalty for breach of contract. Of course, they won't pay according to the contract, because EMI Records hasn't fulfilled its promises made when he signed the contract.

The two parties eventually reached an agreement: Xu Yuteng would pay 20 yuan in liquidated damages and void the non-compete agreement.

This is a large sum of money, which Xu Yuteng couldn't afford, so ByteDance provided it. The condition was that ByteDance acquire the copyright to "Wait a Minute," making it the second most downloaded ringtone song next year.

When Xu Yuteng left EMI Records, he also helped Chen Guiliang recruit someone.

(End of this chapter)