Chapter 1970 - 1970: Taking the College Entrance Exam (6)
Winter, heavy snow falling.
With blessings from the family, Xibao, wearing a mink fur coat, sheepskin pants, a military coat, sheepskin boots, and carrying stationery, entered the examination hall with classmates, educated youth, and children of workers and peasants who had already started working, all with excited hearts.
There were just too many candidates; students who had been locked out of the college entrance door for ten years!
Very few dressed as warmly as Xibao; patched old cotton clothes were not warm, most were shivering from the cold, and some didn't even have decent cotton clothes, wearing multiple layers of worn-out garments instead.
No matter how cold, it couldn't stop their enthusiasm for entering the examination hall.
Their faces, chapped and reddened by the Feng Xue, were full of longing for the future.
Xibao noticed a candidate next to him wearing two layers of patched-up shirts, with reed-woven clogs and felt shoes, his lips purple from the cold, his hands too cramped to extend.
In this examination hall, he was dressed the thinnest and the worst.
A sense of pity arose, and Xibao took off the military coat and handed it to him gently saying, "My cotton coat is warm, I'm sweating. I'll lend you my coat, you can return it after the exam."
He was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy, very thin, thin to the point of disfigurement, making his eyes appear even larger and rounder.
He looked at Xibao, his lips trembling, unable to utter a word.
Seeing he didn't take it, Xibao draped it over him firmly.
A young man sitting behind Xibao shouted, "Hey, you in the front, what's with the kindness? His parents are bad people, notorious as hell, be careful they stink up your nice military coat! I say he shouldn't even be allowed in the exam hall."
The boy immediately pulled back his hand that was about to grasp the coat's lapel, his face flushed red, tears welling up in his eyes.
Xibao directly buttoned the coat for him, and said loudly, "My mama said, at the seminar on reinstating the college entrance exam system, most of the leaders agreed not to decide participation based on class background; meaning, all knowledge youth of appropriate age can take the college entrance exam! My classmate behind me, are you dissatisfied with the national leaders for allowing this comrade to participate in the exam?"
Impressed by his bold tone, the young man was taken aback, stammering, "Who knows if what you're saying is true or not, don't casually label me!"
Xibao smiled faintly, "I dare say it, which means it's true! The state allowing this classmate into the exam hall proves I'm not wrong."
Others listened, some dared not speak up, fearing trouble; some were Xibao's classmates or Wanglou Brigade educated youth and students joining the review, immediately speaking out to support Xibao.
"Our Xibao doesn't lie!"
"That's right, Lu Tianmao is a good comrade, the revision materials you all bought were likely put together by him to help us."
"The one questioning Xibao, you know nothing, how dare you say that! Xibao's parents were at that educational seminar, nobody knows better than him, why would he need to lie to you?"
Hearing this, the young man sitting behind Xibao turned pale.
He understood their implication, the exceptionally handsome young man in front of him was actually a cadre's child? To attend the educational seminar, one couldn't be an ordinary leader.
Xibao raised a hand, stopping those speaking on his behalf from continuing, "The invigilators are here, let's not talk anymore, let's just do the questions later calmly, no need to be nervous, just like usual."
...Visiting relatives, typing on mobile, no air conditioning, hands almost numb with cold, ten chapters done today, ticket please