Day 2.

Yang Shu arrived at the examination room before the exam, as always, and the brief opening speech had already ended, and he began to enter the examination state immediately. The results of the preliminaries and finals of the provincial examination were all released on the spot, so even after the exam, no candidate chose to leave. All the candidates had forgotten about hunger until 2 p.m., when all the results were released.

Among the top 20 candidates, 8 scored 150 points, while the remaining 12 all scored more than 140 points. Only Yang Shu and Lu Lu in Dakai City passed the preliminaries and participated in the final stage. Lu Lu once again showed the demeanor of a scholar, with a perfect score of 150 points. Poplar scored 140 points. The most vivid memory of Yang Shu is the two candidates from the No. 1 Middle School in the provincial capital, who handed in the papers 15 minutes early. After the on-site marking, both of them scored a perfect score of 150 points.

Yang Shu shouted that it was dangerous, and Old Man Li's admonition sounded in his mind again: you must know how to feel the atmosphere of the exam.

In the afternoon of the same day, the presiding committee arranged accommodation and made an announcement. The teacher who led the team instructed Yang Shu and Lu Lu a few words, and then took the other four back to Dakai. Yang Shu and Lu Lu have been classmates for two years in junior high school, although they are not familiar with each other, but they are not very angry. Now there are only two people left in Dakai City, and there will be some intimacy.

Poplar took the initiative to take the words that knew her and knew her almost before. However, Lu Lu said something that shocked Yang Shu: "I have known you for a long time, and you used to stalk Liu Bingran to death." And I've heard your story, I thought you were a bad person, and I didn't dare to approach you. Now I find that although you are a little naughty, you are not as bad as they say. ”

"Liu Bingran?" Poplar subconsciously muttered. I haven't heard this name for a long time, and it evokes some memories of junior high school for a while.

"yes. She has always been number one since she was a child, and since she was in the same class as her in the first year of junior high school, she has always been number one. Every time I was a point or two behind her, so I always wanted to play with her again. Lu Lu recalled. Then Jiaojie smiled: "Poplar." I'm really curious. Tell me about your junior high school days, is it what they say? Is it cheating into the school? Did you expel all your classmates? Did you make a lot of money at the beginning, it is said that it was millions. It's amazing, isn't it? You should still be rich, right? I heard that you were still selling drugs and killing several people, did you end up in a labor camp like this? ……”

Yang Shu felt pressured, and Lu Lu, who seemed to be a top student, gossiped up and broke the casserole to ask the end. He smiled and said, "It's not as exaggerated as you say." Some of them don't have such a thing at all, and they spread false rumors. ”

After dealing with Lu Lu perfunctorily, he went to some scenic spots in the provincial capital in the evening. The two-week closed training is in full swing. After seeing the full score of 8 people this time, Yang Shu didn't dare to hang his son anymore, listened carefully every time he went to class, and reviewed carefully after class. At the same time, find out the points that you are easy to make mistakes at the beginning, scrutinize back and forth, and repeatedly verify the questions. I also took the initiative to find a few sets of previous test papers to test the time for solving the questions. It is estimated that this is the first time in Yangshu's life that he has taken the initiative to go all out.

Poplar is so obsessed that his roommate in the same dormitory is embarrassed. If his roommate knew about the poplar tree in the past, the horror could no longer believe that what he saw in front of him was real. Such a crazy change, in fact, is a big reason for the Liu Bingran mentioned by Lu Lu one day. Although this possibility is very small, Yang Shu still has an expectation in his heart: what if he really meets him at the national competition of the Beijing Cai Competition? This competition must be in the top three.

On the day of the finals. The Beijing Cai Competition (provincial) examination site is particularly low-key. In addition to a few candidates who participated in the finals, there were only a few leaders and judges of the main committee. The aim is to be as prepared as possible for the finals in Kyoto without revealing the candidates' information. There is also a saying that the top three in the province for 10 consecutive years have been won by the provincial middle school, and in the past five years, it has been won by the provincial No. 1 middle school, so there is nothing to pay attention to and report. The battle for the quota of the Beijing Lottery in the provincial No. 1 middle school is even more exciting than the provincial finals.

……

A week later.

"I didn't win first this time, and if I don't get first place in the finals in Kyoto next time, I won't come back." Tan Lao's scolding was heard again.

"Old Tan, what do you know? In any case, he also won third place and qualified for the finals in Kyoto. This is the only one in the past ten years to break the monopoly of the provincial No. 1 middle school Beijing lottery competition. It was a heart-wrenching scene, and in the end, with a little bit of my wisdom, I was able to disrupt my opponent's mind to win. A young man's voice sighed, and the thrilling taste in his voice was still unfinished.

Who would this boy be if he wasn't a poplar? Yang Shu laughed and added, "Hehe, Tan Lao, what else do you want?" Since winning the third place, the special school is rising at the moment, and the provincial and municipal TV stations have come to make special reports, and the leaders and relevant departments of the province and city have rushed to greet each other, and have expressed their willingness to expand the campus, update the school building, increase the hardware facilities, and cultivate the software strength. ”

"Humph! Last time, you said you won the first place, but you only won the third place, what is there to show off. The scene is not as thrilling as you say. Tan Lao stubbornly said.

"Not thrilling yet? The two perverts in the first province were finished in 5 minutes in the extra game, and they won the top two steadily. When I was in third place, I wanted to see that the classmate from No. 1 Middle School, Lu Lu and others were about to hand in the papers, so I coughed loudly, and then laughed a few times. When they were a little distracted, they handed in the test papers. Otherwise, I'd be a few seconds slower. Poplar has said this no less than 10 times. Now there is still a thrilling feeling, nothing more than trying to show off his cleverness.

"If you hadn't claimed to have transient insaneness in the name of a special school, you wouldn't have been able to get through the danger. So because you borrowed the light of a special school, it has little to do with your ranking. Every time Tan Lao said this, thinking about the changes in the school this week, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Mutual aid, mutual assistance, we are all one family, why do we talk about two families? Right. Hey! "Anyway, the poplar trunk laughed." This week is busy socializing, so I don't have time to review. After gathering in the provincial capital tomorrow afternoon, we will take a plane to Pengcheng, the training site in the Great Southern District, for a month-long training camp, and it is said that the top three in the finals will represent the country in world-class competitions. I don't know what to do with the training, it's not these questions, and I can't improve much. ”

"I don't care, if you can't come back with the first place this time, don't come back." Tan Lao ignored the poplar tree and said to himself.

"Why is this always the case?" Poplar replied impatiently. Then his voice was weak: "I will definitely get it back this time." ”

I was going to say goodbye to Old Man Li, but he wasn't in Dakai City this week, and he didn't know where he went? It seems that Old Man Li never cares about the ranking of poplars, and he really only knows how to feel the atmosphere of the exam.

"Wow, that's beautiful! Lao Tzu is also a weathered and well-read person, and when he really faces such a scene, he can't help but sigh at the magic of nature and the whimsical and miraculous work of scientists. Poplar, who was flying for the first time, was excited and couldn't help but mutter.

The two classmates next to him were talking to each other, as if they didn't know him. Maybe it's because Yang Shu broke the monopoly of Provincial No. 1 Middle School, maybe it's Yang Shu's shameless behavior when he answers the question at the end, maybe the two of them are arrogant and really don't look down on Yang Shu, maybe the two are introverted and don't like to deal with strangers. In short, from the gathering to getting off the plane, arriving at the designated place of the organizer, and going to the designated hotel after the handover procedures, the poplar tree is used as air.

Yang Shu has long been accustomed to the arrogance of these elite experimental class classmates, so he naturally didn't take these trivial things to heart. Alone to enjoy the style of Pengcheng, there are high-rise buildings everywhere, cars and bungalows everywhere, and pedestrians in a hurry. If Kyoto is the center of politics, then Pengcheng is the financial center, one north and one south, echoing each other from afar.

I played very late, and when I went back, I forgot the way I came, so I could only take a taxi to the hotel where I stayed, and it was already ten o'clock in the evening. When I returned to the dormitory, I found that it was still empty, and my roommates had not returned. The poplar had just finished washing when he heard a knock on the door.

After opening the door, I saw a gentle and elegant young man, and greeted him politely and gentlemanly: "May I ask if it is the accommodation room of Jingcaisai?" ”

Yang Shu knew that it should be his roommate, so he politely greeted him in, and the two introduced themselves to each other, briefly talked about the experience of the Beijing Cai Competition, and fell asleep in each other.

The roommate's name is Zhen Baoyu, and when Yang Shu heard the name, he couldn't help laughing, and secretly teased in his heart: There is a Jia Baoyu in the book, and there is a Zhen Baoyu here. However, the two of them have Baoyu personalities, who seem to be gentle and elegant, but they are actually honest. According to the words of the hometown: honest people, rotten jade cannot be carved.

Zhen Baoyu is a native of Pengcheng, so he arrived at the dormitory very late on the day of the training gathering. I was studying abroad before, because my sister Lin participated in the Beijing Lottery Competition, and this semester I came back to cheer her up and join in the fun, so they both entered the final stage of the Beijing Lottery Competition. It's just that Sister Lin has to participate in the Jingcai Competition of another discipline (chemistry), and she will come here for training half a month later. Zhen Baoyu later emphasized that the parents of both sides are families, and they decided to be a matchmaker early. I also like each other very much, so I ran back from abroad, the purpose of which was to clear the opponent of the Beijing Cai Match for my sister Lin. Half for the Jingcai Competition, half for love.

Yang Shu vomited: "What age, finger belly for marriage." ”

Zhen Baoyu is very polite, friendly and hospitable. After training every day for half a month, he worked as a tour guide for Yang Shu and took him around. Art galleries, concert halls, museums, and other places are all elegant and sophisticated. On weekends and weekends, I also took poplars to a speedboat, cruise ship and helicopter to hide.

Yang Shu's eyes have been opened for half a month, and he feels that he is still a super dirt bun. I touched my pocket, I couldn't even afford an accessory, and the fire of self-improvement in my heart was burning. Lamenting the difference between Dakai City and Pengcheng, the real financial center, is vastly different. I also felt Zhen Baoyu's enthusiasm and equality, and did not look down on myself from the countryside. Since I was a child, I saw in the book the wise saying that "the more powerful the person is, the more humble he is, and the more low-key the person with status", and this is indeed the case.

In fact, what Yang Shu didn't know was that Zhen Baoyu's heart was even more shocking. In the past, he went to the countryside with his parents to make loving condolences and knew the conditions and human nature of the countryside, but here in Yangshu, he was completely subverted. At first, I was just a polite tour guide, but gradually I found that no matter where I went, the concert hall, the art museum, the streets and alleys, the ancient scriptures, etc., the poplar trees could answer the questions fluently and describe them vividly. This makes Zhen Baoyu also ruthless, and he must find a field that Yang Shu doesn't understand, so that he can have a sense of accomplishment. But in the end, the cost of going to the cruise and helicopter was still paid by Yang Shu first, which made Zhen Baoyu sigh: "Is this from the countryside?" Art knows better than me, and there is more money than me. ”

The third week of the training camp. After the training camp on Monday afternoon, Zhen Baoyu apologized: "You will go to play alone tomorrow, my sister Lin is back, she doesn't like many people, so she can't accompany you, I'm sorry." ”

"It's okay, I should thank you these days, and take the trouble to take me out to be chic. Now I am already familiar with the way back and forth, you haven't seen each other for so many months, Xiao Bisheng is newly married, and you should accompany her. Poplar smiled heartily.

Yang Shu went to the beach alone, reading books and listening to the sea, so comfortable.

Staying alone at the beach, after staying for a long time, I felt bored, and went back to the hotel early. When I walked downstairs, I felt a little hungry, so I ordered a steak to take away at the café next door. As soon as I returned to the door of the hall of the accommodation, I saw Zhen Baoyu communicating with a short-haired beauty from a distance, and I saw that the short-haired beauty seemed to be talking to Zhen Baoyu without saying a word. Poplar was about to step forward and tease on his own, but after carefully examining the face of his short-haired beauty, he suddenly stood stupidly and dumbfounded, motionless, unable to take another step.

A forgotten, but familiar breath came to my face—

Liu Bingran!