For Bai Xiaoding, July 9, 2001 was an extremely unusual day. The three days of July, August and September every year are the National Unified College Entrance Examination Day, and Bai Xiaoding is one of the more than 4.5 million candidates that year. In the last "History" exam on the afternoon of the 9th, Bai Xiaoding fainted in the examination room before finishing the test paper. At the moment of losing consciousness, his body shook in his seat and slowly fell forward, his forehead slamming on the desk with a muffled "bang", like the knock of fate.

"Report to the teacher, he is our classmate Bai Xiaoding, he is sick, go and see him!" A girl named Zhan Xiaopai, who was sitting in front of Bai Xiaoding's left, raised her hand and anxiously reported to the invigilator.

There were two invigilators in the examination room, a man and a woman, who were a little hesitant when they saw Bai Xiaoding lying down, and when they heard Zhan Xiaopai say this, the male teacher walked quickly to Bai Xiaoding's side and tried to wake him up, "Classmate? Classmates ......"

"Teacher, he must have fainted, take him to the hospital!" It was a tall boy who suddenly stood up in the back row of the examination room. He has a rectangular face, thick hair standing on end, a high and straight nose, thick lips, and a pair of smart eyes under thick eyebrows that give people a lively and mischievous look. His name is Yan Ziming, and he is also Bai Xiaoding's classmate.

There was a commotion in the examination room, and the candidates looked around, and some even began to speak quietly. The female invigilator tapped the podium with her knuckles sharply to order everyone to be quiet, and then pointed at Yan Ziming and shouted, "You sit down!" ”

Yan Ziming reluctantly sat back, and found that the two invigilators began to discuss going to the leader, so he stood up again. Without waiting for the female teacher to attack, she grabbed the test paper on the table and strode forward, slapped it on the podium, and then turned around and came to Bai Xiaoding, and with the assistance of the male teacher, she picked up the person and walked out of the classroom. When he rushed out of the teaching building with Bai Xiaoding on his back and ran through the empty playground to the big iron gate in the distance, he somehow remembered a scene in the movie "Forrest Gump": Forrest Gump carried his wounded comrades through the rain of bullets...... He felt that his current self was simply possessed by Forrest Gump, and he couldn't help but have a heroic and tragic aura running through his chest.

Outside the big iron gate of the school, hundreds of parents gathered to accompany the examination group. In July, it was the hottest time of the day, and the scorching sun forced those who did not have parasols under the walls and into the shade of the trees. Only a middle-aged woman wearing a blue floral gauze short-sleeved shirt and black cropped pants with a thin figure and a sickly face seemed to be not afraid of the heat, standing in the sun in front of the iron gate, holding a thermos kettle in one hand and looking at the campus with the other hand on her forehead. This woman's name is Zhang Xiulan, and she is Bai Xiaoding's mother. At this moment, all her thoughts are tied to her son who is sick in the exam, thinking about how her son did in the exam, whether the questions will be or not, and whether he can reach the level of the usual mock exam? Thinking that when he finished the exam, he poured out the iced sour plum soup in the thermos kettle for him to drink as soon as possible...... I have forgotten that there is such a thing as heat and sun.

Yan Ziming ran to the door with Bai Xiaoding on his back, and waited for Zhang Xiulan to see clearly that he was carrying his son on his back, before he screamed and pounced, "Ding Ding, you ...... What happened to you?! ”

"Ah, Auntie...... Xiao and Xiao Ding fainted in the examination room...... We—let's take him to the hospital! Yan Xiaose was so tired that she was panting, and her words were no longer coherent.

"Huh?! That's fast...... Come on, ......" Zhang Xiulan felt that her body was as soft as ice cream that was about to melt, and she collapsed to the ground without taking two steps with Yan Xiaose, and the thermos kettle rolled to the ground.

"This should be a child, right?" "This is a rush to attack the heart, pinch people, ah......" "Let's call an ambulance quickly......" The onlookers were talking and making noises.

Seeing that Zhang Xiulan also fainted, Yan Xiaose was in a hurry, and just as she didn't know what to do, a pair of middle-aged men and women stepped forward to help Zhang Xiulan up. The man was long, slightly fat, wearing a snow-white short-sleeved shirt, the hem was tucked into the black trousers with a straight trouser line, a square face with a pair of black-framed glasses, and an elegant bearing, at first glance, he was a learned intellectual; The woman's facial features are beautiful, with neat short ear-length hair, and she is wearing a beige cut-down dress, which looks quiet and intellectual.

"Uncle Zhan, Aunt He!" Yan Xiaose recognized these two as Zhan Xiaopai's father, Zhan Mingyuan, and his mother, He Shuyu. Both of them are professors at Danbei College, the highest university in Danbei City, one teaches history and the other teaches ancient Chinese literature, neither of them had classes this afternoon, so they went to the examination room together to cheer for their daughter, but they didn't expect to catch up with their daughter's classmates.

"I'll do it." Zhan Mingyuan nodded to Yan Xiaose, leaned over and picked up Zhang Xiulan, and with the assistance of He Shuyu and others, he and Yan Xiaose carried Zhang Xiulan and Bai Xiaoding's mother and son across the road together, helped them into the car specially arranged by Yan Xiaose's father to pick him up during the college entrance examination, and went straight to the hospital.

Zhang Xiulan is an old sick person, her body is weak, and she is always sick. Born in the early fifties, she experienced "land standards", "three years of natural disasters", "going to the mountains and going to the countryside", malnutrition from an early age and overload of labor as an adult prematurely damaged her health. She and Bai Xiaoding's father, Bai Changshan, were both from a bitter background, and the two met when they were in the countryside, and they got married and had Xiaoding after returning to the city. Bai Changshan, who had a high school education, became a teacher in middle school, and after graduating from high school, she was assigned to Danbei Silk Factory as a worker. Later, the silk factory was transformed, and she was also laid off with the merger. Because of poor health, I can't do the work with a little intensity, so I have been recuperating at home, usually buying vegetables, cooking, washing clothes, and taking care of the diet and daily life of the grandfather, which is also appropriate. Xiaoding went to high school three years ago, and her thoughts were all on her son, asking for warmth and taking care of everything.

Before arriving at the hospital, Zhang Xiulan woke up in the car, holding her unconscious son and touching her tears, which was heartbreaking to watch. Seeing that Zhang Xiulan woke up, Zhan Mingyuan, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, secretly breathed a sigh of relief, after all, it's good that people are fine. Looking back at Bai Xiaoding, who was unconscious, he couldn't help but sigh a little. As a university professor, he naturally has a better understanding of the college entrance examination than others. Although there has been controversy in the society about whether the college entrance examination is fair, it is undeniable that so far, it is difficult to find a fairer screening method. Like Bai Xiaoding fainted in the exam, more or less will have an impact on the results, aside from the worst situation of not even answering the questions, physical discomfort will inevitably affect the candidate's on-the-spot performance, many times, the difference of more than a dozen points or even one or two points will determine whether the candidate can be admitted to the university of his choice, which will affect the future and fate, which is too big!

Yan Ziming carried Bai Xiaoding on his back and left for a long time before Zhan Xiaopai moved his gaze from the door to the test paper in front of him. Bai Xiaoding was unwell, she knew that she was just worried that his bad state would affect his performance in the examination room, but she never expected him to faint in the examination room! Oh, my God! Is there something wrong with Bai Xiaoding's body? Will there be a danger to life...... The more Zhan Xiaopai thought about it, the more frightened he became, and he finished answering the question uncertainly, and he no longer had the heart to check the answers, so he got up and handed in the papers and walked out of the examination room.

Coming out of the teaching building, Zhan Xiaopai trotted all the way to the gate of the big iron, and as soon as he went out, He Shuyu greeted him, "Xiaopai, what are you running on a hot day?" Why did you submit your papers so early? Checked? ”

"No need to check, I'm a big deal about history, you know...... Where's my dad? Zhan Xiaopai looked around as he spoke, as if he was looking for Zhan Mingyuan.

He Shuyu looked at her face that was slightly red from anxiety, and understood her daughter's thoughts as if she understood Li Qingzhao's words, "Your father went to the First Hospital with the car to send Bai Xiaoding to ......."

"Yes, Mom! That Bai Xiaoding is my classmate, you've seen it! Zhan Xiaopai, who didn't know how to ask, said eagerly.

"Well, I know, it was Yan Ziming who carried him out, but Bai Xiaoding's mother saw Bai Xiaoding in a coma, probably because she was stimulated and fainted......"

"Oh, what can I do......" Xiaopai was so anxious that he forgot to hide it, and said to He Shuyu: "Mom, go home, I'll go to the hospital to see them." ”

"Wait a minute," He Shuyu took out a point-and-shoot camera from his bag, "Xiaopai, today your college entrance examination is over, a special day, leave a souvenir." ”

"Oh, mom, I won't take it, you can take it yourself." After Zhan Xiaopai finished speaking, he turned around and ran away.

......Seeing that her daughter had run away, He Shuyu smiled wryly, "This girl!" What's going on with my own calculations? ”

The afternoon sun is like a fire on the ground, and everything exposed to the sun is steaming, as if it will melt at any moment. Zhan Xiaopai trotted all the way, sweat running down her face, soaking her T-shirt, but she didn't care about it at all, she just wanted to rush to the hospital immediately to visit Bai Xiaoding, who worried her.