At the beginning of July, the sun was blazing, and I began to fill in the college entrance examination volunteers. In the reading room, a series of strings are pulled up, and colorful picture pages are hung on them, introducing the history, majors, graduation destinations and enrollment numbers of well-known universities, which seem to be waving to the candidates: welcome, this is the cradle of celebrities and the nursery for cultivating professionals.

The "Graduation Song" was played repeatedly on the loudspeaker -- we are the fragrance of peach and plum today, and the pillars of society tomorrow......

President Xu filled in the volunteers for the graduates and personally checked the checks. He summoned the candidates one by one, and began to help the students who had good conditions for the political examination to adjust the volunteers on the draft form -- so as to avoid collisions between the candidates of this school.

After many people were summoned, Chengzhu was satisfied with his mind, and joked with each other by the names of Zuo Beida, Zhu Qinghua, and Lu Fudan.

In dealing with candidates who were "demoted" or "unsuitable" in the political examination, Xu Yuanshao's behavior was like acting -- he also took great pains to read the sketch table, and he couldn't help but talk about his views from the bottom of his heart, but he would not use his pen to help them adjust their wishes.

Jiang Lesheng's first choice on the draft table is the "Jiangling Institute of Chemical Technology" that others disdain.

Xu Yuanshao finished reading his sketch and was silent for a moment without speaking. Later, I casually asked: Why don't you choose a better school?

Jiang Lesheng stared at Principal Xu intently, and muttered: My family's composition is not good, so I dare not report high.

He was telling the truth. In the past three years, the shadow of his birth has hung over his heart, and he has lingered every year. Tasting Principal Xu's words, he pleaded with hope: "You mean I can choose a better school?" Can you please help me change it?

At this time, in Jiang Lesheng's view, the principal is like an immortal guiding the way, and the school he confirms must be taken.

Seeing that Jiang Lesheng was serious, the pure eyes forced Xu Yuanshao to hurriedly retract his words, and changed his words to say that this is okay, Jiangling Chemical is not bad...... Founded by Hou Debang, studying chemical engineering is very promising.

On July 20, 1960, more than 1,300 candidates from all over the region gathered in Haocheng City for the college entrance examination.

The test questions are not divided into arts and sciences, and the propositions of each subject are not difficult. Jiang Lesheng calmly played the pen like a god, only half the time to complete the question, and then repeatedly checked to ensure that nothing was wrong. He complained in his heart that the exam questions were too simple, and the score gap could not be widened, which was not conducive to his admission. The invigilator who was the top of the exam went back and forth, and every time he came to him, he always stopped for a moment, glanced at the answer sheet and showed admiration.

Until this point he was still in the dark - even if he had a perfect score, he would have been on the list!

After the noon test on the third day, the teacher who sent the test announced after discussion: free activities in the afternoon. The students are about to go their separate ways, so take this opportunity to see the famous places of interest in Haocheng together, or go to the wolf mountain outside the city. At 7 p.m., we gathered and returned to Jiang'an.

Nine kilometers away from the city of the Yangtze River, stand five hills, although the mountain height is less than 100 meters, the river bank is quite precipitous, among which the wolf mountain, one of the four small famous mountains of Buddhism, is the most famous. Jiang Lesheng climbed Wolf Mountain with the imperial Guihuang Xinguan.

Wang Chaogui is a member of the class study committee, and he is quiet and calm. His family is a farmer, and his brother was arrested before liberation, and his life and death are still unknown, and his mother is blind from crying.

Zuo Chunrong, the secretary of the Youth League, was admitted to Jiang'an High School after graduating from junior high school thanks to Wang Chaogui helping him review, and the relationship between the two was good. He tested Zuo Chunrong, how to fill in the question of his brother? Zuo Chunrong didn't say anything. He is self-aware, and he fills in the unpopular colleges of geology, agriculture and forestry.

Huang Xinguan's father was a big smoker, and 30 acres of land were burned by him with a smoking gun. After liberation, my father cut off the source of cigarettes, was as skinny as firewood, and threw himself into the river and died.

His brother was ten years older than him, and in his early years, he was a student in Shanghai and opened a silk shop. Huang Xinguan and his mother rely on their elder brother for help. He speaks pidgin Shanghainese and is the one in his class who has seen the world.

Huang Xinguan is partial to the department. At the New Year's Day poetry meeting the year before last, he recited the long poem "Singing the New "Jiangzhong" of Leaping Forward" composed by himself, and sighed three times: Ah, dear Jiangzhong, I love you and hug you affectionately! . The magnetic baritone, the bow-tie outfit on the tuxedo, and the exaggerated movement of spreading his arms like a roc spreading his wings, won bursts of applause. The "poet" became famous, and since then, the school magazine has continued to publish new works by him.

He was afraid of math classes. Plane trigonometry stereo geometry barely scored three points, and algebra never passed. Later, I asked Jiang Lesheng, a mathematics representative, for tips on how to solve problems, and his grades gradually improved. Out of gratitude, Huang Xinguan gave him a few old clothes that he was too small, and said: Don't be bad, I will treat you as a brother.

This benevolent brother has always been very arrogant, and others call him "poet", and he readily agrees to ridicule him no matter what he wants. People from bad backgrounds are afraid to fill out the registration form, but he doesn't care, and fills in the "landlord and capitalist" column in the component. He said that his father, landlord, and elder brother were in business, and it didn't matter if they had a single or double material!

He filled in the volunteer based on his interest, and the Haocheng Teacher College of Peking University South Normal College is a Chinese major. I said that I want to study in a satisfactory major, and it doesn't matter if I am not admitted, like Gorky to study at my university!

The bus fare in Wolf Mountain is a dime and a half. The three of them were reluctant to spend money, and walked to the foot of the mountain in more than an hour.

The "Great Heat" day is extremely hot, and the tourists who climb the mountain are sparse. The mountain road is rugged and tortuous, and the broad-leaved trees on the side of the road cast a large area of thick shade, and they knew how to hide under the wilted leaves and sing. There is an incense stall at the corner of each step, and the old man and woman selling incense and candles are drowsy under the parasols.

After climbing more than 300 stone steps, the three friends climbed to the top of the mountain with all their might.

Standing on the Wangjiang platform, he suddenly had the spirit of "swinging his chest and giving birth to stratus clouds". The river is wide and boundless, and there is an ocean: look to the right at the thousands of waves rolling in and out of sight, and look to the left at the back waves and the front waves flowing eastward. The smoke in front is vast, and the wisps of light smoke floating from the chimney on the opposite bank are faintly recognizable; The river slaps against the cliff at your feet, and the waves splash and roll up thousands of piles of snow, making a heart-palpitating roar. The two steamers in the center of the river sounded their whistles and sailed upstream, followed by a flock of seagulls flying up and down. A small steamer towed dozens of wooden rafts, drifting downstream along the river bank and disappearing at the end of the water and sky.

Huang Xinguan opened his arms and recited Su Dongpo's famous chapter: The great river goes east, and the waves sweep away the romantic characters through the ages......

On the top of the mountain, the Daxiong Treasure Hall is resplendent in gold, the four King Kongs are majestic, and more than 100 Arhats have different expressions. In the middle is enshrined the gold-pasted giant statue of the Buddha, and the kind eyes are half-open and half-closed, staring at all living beings in the world; On the back, Guanyin Bodhisattva is dressed in a neon robe, and the willow branch is sandwiched between the orchid fingers, which is dipped in treasure bottle water and sprinkled on the suffering world.

Jiang Lesheng suddenly had the idea of asking the gods to bless him for admission. So he invited two handfuls of incense, lit the candle on the shrine, and inserted them into the incense burner in front of Rulai and Guanyin respectively. Then I prostrate on the futon and pray sincerely and silently: The Bodhisattva bless me to be admitted to the university and never forget the great kindness. After the prayer, I bowed respectfully three times in a row. He let out a long breath, as if he had completed a major mission.

On the ginkgo tree in front of the Daxiong Treasure Palace, a magpie with a white belly and a long tail is jumping around and chirping. Was he sent by the Bodhisattva to give him good news?

Wang Chaogui looked happy, and said that there was an old monk in the side hall who asked for a sign for divination, asking for one piece and two explanations. Don't go and try it?

He took out the slip he had requested, a two-finger-wide piece of yellow paper, with three lines of small black letters printed vertically on it:

The forty-eighth sign is in the upper middle

The cart went out for a long trip, and the axle fell off and the road was uneven. Fortunately, passers-by came to help, and the wind stopped raining and the sky cleared.

First difficult and then easy, first bitter and then sweet, planning is in people, and success is in heaven

Jiang Lesheng said: In fact, you are unfounded. If you have good ingredients and good grades, you will be a good university. If I have this condition, I dare to report to Tsinghua University. You're too conservative to pick schools that no one has applied to.

Wang Chaogui smiled sadly: every family has a scripture that is difficult to read - no one in the class knows that he has a missing brother.

For the past three years, Jiang Lesheng has been thinking about going to university. But all kinds of ominous premonitions made him confused, and he fell into a strange circle of more and more fears and fears the more he thought. Now that he has taken the exam, he has just paid tribute to the Bodhisattva for protection, and he is afraid of asking for a bad sign, do you believe it or not?

He came to the side hall with Wang Chaogui. The monk was full of silver hair, and his long snow-white eyebrows were quite fairy-like. He saw that Jiang Lesheng was hesitant, and asked kindly: Does the little benefactor want to ask for a sign or divination? It doesn't matter, believe it, then the spirit; If you don't believe, you won't be able to do it, so you should donate a dollar to charity.

Jiang Lesheng handed over a piece of money, closed his eyes and raised the stick holder above his head, silently praying that the Bodhisattva would give him a good luck. The lottery pot was rattling for half a minute, but he still couldn't make up his mind to stop. The old monk reminded him twice that it was okay before he stopped, and a bamboo stick with red lacquer written "seventy-four" was strung out.

Jiang Lesheng was so nervous that he held his breath. The yellow note handed by the old monk was also vertically printed with three lines of small black characters:

Seventy-fourth signed

Looking across the river, I saw an ingot of gold, and the golden light burned people's hearts. The wind is high and the water is cold, there is no boat crossing, and the luck is not good, so what is the day?

You can't seek wealth, you can't succeed, you can't seek fame, you can't list it, and you can't swallow the bitter fruit

As if being struck by lightning, Jiang Lesheng's face turned pale, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, he staggered and stood unsteadily, and fell into Wang Chaogui's arms. The old monk was busy with cold water in his mouth, sprayed "poof" and "poof" on his face, pinched the "human center" with his thumb, and shook his head again and again: This child, what's wrong?

Jiang Lesheng opened his eyes and cried "wow". muttered to himself: The wind is high and the water is cold, and there is no boat.

Wang Chaogui wiped his tears for him and persuaded: Lesheng, calm down. You're such a child, you can't hold your breath at all. The monk said, "Do you believe in its spirit, but don't you believe it."

Jiang Lesheng sobbed and said: I don't want to believe it, but I'm afraid I have to believe it.

Huang Xinguan was addicted to chanting ancient poems, and he also picked up the lottery holder and turned it upside down, and a No. 55 lottery was strung out. The old monk found the sticker, which was also printed in three lines of small vertical characters:

Fifty-fifth signed

Trapped in the cement swamp, soaring clouds and fog over space. No, if there is Tailai, I am born to be useful.

The trapped dragon got the water, and the disaster was auspicious, and the success became famous, and the ancestors were bright

Huang Xinguan shook his head and read it twice. said to Wang Chaogui and Jiang Lesheng: It's pure nonsense. If I am a "sleepy dragon", where does the "water" come from? Is it philosophical, God knows what day? I only appreciate the last sentence, how many desperate people have been saved by Li Taibai's famous poem!

He crumpled the note and threw it into the trash can accurately.

Jiang Lesheng said: You should believe, and faith will be spiritual! I begged for a sign, but I didn't want to believe it, but I was afraid that it would really work!

The sun is in the west, and Wang Chaogui said that it is not early, so let's go down the mountain quickly. It doesn't matter if it's good or not, just make games on the spot and go with him. Won't it be a month before it comes to fruition?

A month later, Wang Chaogui was admitted to the junior college, fulfilling the "drizzle gradually stopped and the sky cleared". Jiang Lesheng and Huang Xinguan became two of the four students who failed to make the list.

Wang and Jiang believed that their signatures worked, but Huang Xinguan did not. In the end, it really verified the words of the old monk: faith is spiritual; If you don't believe, you don't work.