Era: Starting with the struggle to refuse being taken advantage of

Chapter 354 The college entrance examination is in progress
Wang Chengpeng quickly glanced at the table; the dishes were the same as what he had ordered. He nodded in satisfaction and said:

"Waiter, the dishes are correct, thank you for your help."

But when Wang Chengpeng finished checking the dishes and looked at Wang Zidong again, he found that Wang Zidong, who had been talking just now, had suddenly fallen silent and looked listless, as if a duck had been choked.

Surprised, Wang Chengpeng asked in confusion:

"Dongzi, what's wrong with you? Is it because the food I ordered isn't to your liking?"

"That shouldn't be the case. I only ordered the dishes that everyone usually likes to eat. It's not like you don't like them."

Wang Zidong did not directly answer Wang Chengpeng's question, but instead kept repeating the waiter's words—"Half an hour ago."

In the end, Wang Zidong gave up the idea of ​​comparing himself to Wang Chengpeng, and said through gritted teeth:

“Great, these dishes are excellent, I’d love to eat more.”

After saying that, he picked up his chopsticks, deciding to turn his grief and anger into food and have a good meal.

After lunch, the four of them did not get together again and all went back to rest.

There are exams this afternoon. If I don't get a proper rest, I won't have the energy to cope with the upcoming exams.

Whether they went back to their rooms to rest or were cramming on their Chinese language skills was something Wang Chengpeng couldn't know.

Almost simultaneously, Wang Chengpeng handed in his paper early in the afternoon's Chinese exam.

"Stop pretending..."

Just as Wang Chengpeng left the classroom, a muffled groan seemed to be faintly heard.

However, Wang Chengpeng didn't mind at all and calmly left the examination room. After all, why would a tiger care about the thoughts of a hyena?

Someone who doesn't focus on answering the questions properly but is so fixated on Wang Chengpeng handing in his paper early is unlikely to get a high score.

Sitting in the same spot again, Wang Chengpeng continued to contemplate life.

This time, Kong Xueyan was also there, but he had no intention of talking to Wang Chengpeng at all. He just looked in the direction where Wang Chengpeng was and sighed helplessly.

She glanced around shrewdly, searching for any possible interview targets.

After waiting for almost an hour, Wang Chengpeng finally spotted Wang Zidong and Zhu Hong amidst the bustling crowd.

As for Xia Mingyue, she had already declined Wang Chengpeng's invitation and returned home, so she was naturally not included in this group.

Even from a distance, Wang Chengpeng could see Wang Zidong's barely concealed excitement, which suggested he must have done well on the exam.

He became even more cautious as he approached Wang Chengpeng.

Only when he reached Wang Chengpeng did he cautiously look around and whisper in Wang Chengpeng's ear:
"Pengzi, you're fucking amazing."

"Did you see the essay topic for the Chinese exam just now? It's almost exactly the same as the one you gave us last night."

Knowing that this matter was somewhat outrageous, Wang Zidong deliberately lowered his voice, not wanting others to know.

But his expression betrayed him; it betrayed his barely suppressed excitement.

Wang Chengpeng already had an explanation for this matter, and said with a smile:
"No matter how things change, the basic principles remain the same, especially in essay writing. There are only so many topics that can be asked, and some lucky people will always come across a few familiar ones."

"Don't think we're just lucky. There might be people who guessed even more questions than you. We still need to work hard for the next few exams."

"By the way, I've already ordered the food, so now is just the right time to go eat."

Although Zhu Hong didn't say anything, judging from his relaxed expression, he must have done well on the exam.

This time, Wang Zidong didn't delve into the matter of how far ahead Wang Chengpeng had submitted his paper; he felt there was no need to worry about it.

Since you did well on the test today, you should just enjoy dinner happily.

In a good mood, Wang Zidong even suggested that he treat everyone to dinner today.

Wang Chengpeng had no objection to this. No one was short of money for the meal; it was Wang Zidong's kind gesture, and he didn't need to insist on refusing it.

Just as Wang Chengpeng was resting at the guesthouse after dinner, before he could even lie down on the bed for long, there was another urgent knocking on the door.

Pushing open the door, Wang Chengpeng immediately saw Wang Zidong's ingratiating face:

"Pengzi, you said you predicted the questions correctly for us yesterday. If you give us a little extra tutoring today, maybe we can get a few more points on tomorrow's test."

"I have to say, after a few hours of tutoring yesterday, I didn't feel nervous at all. It's a great way to relieve stress."

"If you think it's okay, I'll go find Zhu Hong right now and have him listen to your lecture together."

Not everyone has the mental fortitude of Wang Chengpeng, who can rest peacefully at such a crucial moment.

Studying late into the night is the norm for these test takers.

Without refusing, Wang Chengpeng readily agreed to Wang Zidong's request, willing to lend a helping hand to his childhood friend at this crucial moment.

This is where the convenience of staying in a guesthouse becomes apparent.
Although the low-wattage light bulb wasn't bright enough, emitting only a dim light, it was still much better than the dark outside.

Tomorrow's exams are in math and physics/chemistry. These are logic-based questions; you either know the answer or you don't. That's why Wang Zidong is thinking of cramming at the last minute.

Any seemingly insignificant piece of knowledge can be a powerful tool for overcoming difficulties, and it is something that should never be ignored!

Wang Chengpeng didn't really have a strong impression of this year's college entrance examination questions, but he was very familiar with these courses and was able to summarize some important knowledge points.

Time passed by, minute by minute. Wang Chengpeng glanced down at the watch on his left wrist and suggested:

"It's getting late, and I have an exam tomorrow. If I don't get proper rest, I'll easily overwork my brain and perform poorly."

At this point, Wang Chengpeng seemed to remember something, so he took off the watch he was wearing on his left wrist and handed it to Wang Zidong, saying:

"Dongzi, take this watch. It should be helpful for your exam tomorrow."

At this time, the examination facilities were not very complete, and there was no requirement to equip them with timing devices, so the importance of watches became apparent, as they allowed candidates to allocate their examination time more reasonably.

That's true, but considering the price of a watch, which can easily be hundreds of dollars, very few test takers can afford one.

However, it was under these circumstances that Wang Chengpeng gave the watch to Wang Zidong without hesitation, which must have moved him.
Wang Zidong politely declined the watch offered by Wang Chengpeng, saying:
“Pengzi, I appreciate your kindness, but you’ve already helped me so much. I can’t take advantage of you.”

"Take this watch; it will definitely be more useful to you than it is to me."

Hearing Wang Zidong's refusal, Wang Chengpeng showed no intention of taking back the watch and continued to persuade him:

"Don't worry, this watch is useless to me. On the contrary, it can help you, since I won't even use up all the exam time provided." "As for Zhu Hong, don't worry about him either. He is extremely sensitive to time and can accurately judge the current time with an error of no more than two minutes."

As if to prove his point, Wang Chengpeng smiled and asked Zhu Hong:

"Zhu Hong, tell me approximately what time it is now."

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhu Hong directly stated the current time:
11:13!

The time was exactly the same as the time on Wang Chengpeng's watch, which shocked Wang Zidong, who had originally planned to decline.

He suddenly realized that Wang Chengpeng was right; of the three people in the room, he was probably the only one who needed a watch.

With that in mind, Wang Zidong finally accepted the watch from Wang Chengpeng, said thank you, and then chose to go back to rest.

……

The college entrance examination took place as scheduled the next day.

Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar questions in front of him, Wang Chengpeng wrote even faster than in previous subjects, quickly filling the entire paper and handing it in.

The proctors were used to Wang Chengpeng's outrageous behavior and didn't bother to pay any attention to it.

After all, it's hard to persuade a stubborn person with kind words, and he really had no interest in trying to persuade someone who never listened to him.

Unlike yesterday's exam, the candidates who walked out of the exam hall today were clearly gloomy and depressed. Their expressions of frustration were almost etched on their faces, and there was a palpable sense of despair.

The somber atmosphere even made Kong Xueyan more reserved, and she dared not ask the candidates about their exam results anymore.

If she happens to encounter an agitated examinee, even if she gets beaten up, it's her own fault.

Among the crowd, Wang Zidong and Zhu Hong, with their brisk steps, were clearly outliers.

Walking quickly to Wang Chengpeng, Wang Zidong shook the watch on his left wrist and thanked Wang Chengpeng:

"Pengzi, I really owe you a lot for your watch, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to handle this exam today."

"The first big question was tricky, but not difficult either. It always gave me the feeling that I could solve it."

"After wandering around for ages, I realized I almost got myself into a trap, wasting more than ten minutes of my time."

"Luckily, I checked the time and realized something was wrong, so I skipped the question."

"After I finished the other questions, I came back to this one and suddenly snapped out of it, finishing it in just a few minutes."

"The time was just right, enough to check everything before the exam ended."

Smiling and nodding, Wang Chengpeng said, "Okay, if I can help you, then this watch was worth the price."

Looking around at the worried-looking candidates, Wang Zidong was somewhat surprised and said:

"What's wrong with these people? They all look wilted like eggplants after a frost."

"Could it be that the exam questions were very difficult this time?"

"That shouldn't be the case, I didn't feel anything at all."

At this point, Wang Zidong subconsciously asked Zhu Hong, who was standing next to him:

"Zhu Hong, tell me, did you find this morning's questions difficult?"

Shaking his head, Zhu Hong asked in surprise:
"Is it difficult? These questions are in the textbook, and Brother Wang has explained them. There shouldn't be any problem you can't solve!"

At this point, Zhu Hong seemed to have suddenly realized something and said:

"I get it, these people are really bad."

"They clearly know the answers and do very well on the exam, but they insist on pretending that they did poorly."

"The reason for doing that was to make us, the average students, think that we did very well, and then, due to carelessness, we would get a very poor score in the afternoon exam."

Wang Chengpeng: ...? ? ?
After several months of hard work, Zhu Hong has gained a lot of knowledge and his speech has become more cultured. However, his reasoning is still as rough as ever.

Little did anyone know that it was precisely Zhu Hong's crude logic that made Wang Zidong nod repeatedly in agreement, saying:
"I was wondering why something felt off; now I know it was because of this."

"These people are truly wicked. It's all thanks to your intelligence, Zhu Hong, that I almost fell for their tricks."

Taking a deep breath, Wang Zidong finally suppressed his excitement and shouted:
"Let's go eat now."

"After we finish eating, we'll go back and work on our problems. We absolutely won't let their schemes succeed."

Wang Chengpeng: ...? ? ?
As Wang Zidong pulled him toward the state-run restaurant, he felt as if his brain was not quite working properly, and he had completely lost track of the two of them.

Considering the two's serious lack of self-awareness, Wang Chengpeng immediately felt relieved.

Wang Zidong and Zhu Hong had always faced the extremely formidable Wang Chengpeng, and had been constantly suppressed, which led them to believe that their abilities were not up to par and were far inferior to those who took the exam with them.

That's why they felt there must be something fishy going on, and it couldn't possibly be because that's just how it is.

However, this clever misunderstanding didn't need explaining; it only gave the two of them a sense of urgency, enabling them to perform better in the afternoon's exam.

Their results will tell them who the truly outstanding people are.

Since today was the last day of the exam, the three of them did not continue to stay at the guesthouse, but instead rode their bicycles back to their respective homes.

With mixed feelings, the students who had been crowding around the exam site gradually dispersed, and the once bustling No. 1 Middle School gradually quieted down.

Ring ring,

With each crisp ring of the bicycle bell, Wang Chengpeng drew closer and closer to his home.

Even from a distance, Wang Chengpeng could smell a fragrance wafting into his nose.

The aroma of meat is rich and slightly spicy, so it must be stir-fried pork with chili peppers.

Sure enough, when Wang Chengpeng walked into the yard, he heard the clanging of stir-frying vegetables, and the aroma became increasingly rich.

Seemingly having eagerly awaited their return, Wang Tieshan greeted them the moment they entered the courtyard, asking with concern:
"How did you two do on the exam? Are you confident you can get into your ideal universities?"

After parking his bicycle inside, Wang Chengpeng slowly replied:
"We've all done our best. We'll know how the results are once they're out."

(End of this chapter)