Chapter 10: The Upper Limit of Ordinary People

92 days until the college entrance exam.

Because this was the first weekly exam and the college entrance exam was drawing ever closer, the entire school was filled with a tense atmosphere.

Students walked with hurried steps, their faces showing clear signs of nervousness, anxiety, or a hint of confusion.

"Examinees, begin!"

As the sound of the campus loudspeaker rang out, the examinees in over forty exam rooms immediately set their pens to paper, creating a rustling sound.

Exam Room 32.

Wang Donglai sat at his desk. He didn't rush to answer the questions; instead, he checked the entire test paper first before he began to write.

However, he didn't follow the conventional order; he started with the essay first.

For Wang Donglai, two and a half hours was more than enough time for the exam.

After finishing the essay, Wang Donglai began to tackle the questions in a targeted manner.

Although he had forgotten some of the reading comprehension and poetry appreciation material, having been reborn, Wang Donglai’s cognitive abilities had already surpassed those of his past life, so he found the work somewhat manageable.

During exams, time always passes quickly.

Just as Wang Donglai finished his paper, the bell rang.

Since the exams were held over Saturday and Sunday, they were arranged strictly according to college entrance exam rules.

After the exam, Wang Donglai went to the cafeteria to eat, but instead of returning to the classroom, he went back to the dormitory.

He was the only one in the dorm.

The other four had headed straight out of the school gates as soon as the exam ended to eat at a restaurant outside, planning to go to an internet cafe afterward.

In his past life, Wang Donglai would sometimes do the same just to fit in.

But now, Wang Donglai wouldn't do that at all.

The afternoon exam was Mathematics.

This was a subject Wang Donglai had absolutely no confidence in.

Even so, Wang Donglai suppressed his restlessness and began to study his math textbook.

Time passed quickly.

The math exam officially began.

When the math paper was handed out, Wang Donglai’s eyes went wide.

He flipped through it, reading it three times over.

There were only 23 questions on the math paper: 12 multiple-choice, 4 fill-in-the-blanks, 4 mandatory long-form questions, and 2 elective long-form questions.

Among these, Wang Donglai was stunned to find that he was only confident in two of them.

The first multiple-choice question and the first fill-in-the-blank question.

According to his math teacher, the first question of every type on every paper was a "gimme" question—the simplest of them all.

Yet, in Wang Donglai’s eyes, they were a massive headache.

He could understand the meaning of some questions, but others were completely incomprehensible; he had even forgotten the meaning of some mathematical symbols.

"Hoo!"

Taking a deep breath to calm his racing thoughts, Wang Donglai began to pick out the questions he had some impression of on his scratch paper.

Half an hour later.

After writing a great deal on his scratch paper, Wang Donglai finally arrived at an answer.

Looking at the messy handwriting on the paper, Wang Donglai sighed silently to himself.

In fact, in his past life, he had already realized his own aptitude.

He wasn't a genius, he wasn't a smart person, nor was he a fool.

His aptitude was ordinary; his ceiling for effort might only be someone else's floor.

Just like in his past life, Wang Donglai had studied hard only to barely pass the third-tier university cutoff, while others could study casually, get into a second-tier university, and play games well at the same time.

The third-tier cutoff was his ceiling—an insurmountable chasm that even his best efforts couldn't cross.

But!

He had a system now!

His original ceiling had been shattered the moment he obtained the system; the only things determining his limit now were his own effort and diligence.

In fact, as time passed, Wang Donglai could feel the changes the system was bringing him more and more.

He had regained his confidence, and his inner self was slowly becoming stronger.

That was why, seeing his math foundation was so poor that he had to write so much just to solve a "gimme" question, he couldn't help but sigh.

When the math teacher went over the papers, he almost never explained the first question; he would only make those who got it wrong stand up.

Because in his view, he truly couldn't understand how anyone could get such a simple question wrong.

Wang Donglai had tasted that feeling before.

The light, airy words of others: "It's so simple, you just need to do this, this, and that..."

To Wang Donglai, it was all just a blur.

Only by breaking it down and picking it apart could he vaguely see a clue.

Sometimes, the pain of learning isn't about not seeing a return, but about truly feeling the barrier of knowledge.

Not understanding is just not understanding; being unable to see or learn is the most agonizing part.

Just as Wang Donglai’s mind was filled with chaotic thoughts, the proctor, Han Liangli, walked over to his side.

He took one look at Wang Donglai’s paper and shook his head slightly.

"Sigh..."

A very faint sigh sounded, and without saying a word, Han Liangli walked on.

Wang Donglai could hear the emotion behind that sigh.

However, he didn't take it to heart.

He looked through the questions one by one, not letting go of any he could attempt.

Unfortunately, out of the entire paper, there were only three questions he could actually solve.

The two-hour exam passed quickly.

After handing in his paper, Wang Donglai followed the crowd toward the stairs.

"Wang Donglai, let's go, let's go surf the web!"

Suddenly, an arm draped over Wang Donglai’s shoulder, and someone called out to him.

Turning his head, Wang Donglai saw that it was his childhood friend from the same village, Wang Huan.

They came from the same village, and their houses were only a few dozen meters apart.

Not many from their village had made it to high school—only seven in total, boys and girls combined.

From elementary school to junior high, they had been classmates, and with the bond of growing up in the same village, they were naturally closer.

"Wang Yang and Wang You are coming too!"

Wang Huan said, still draped over Wang Donglai.

Wang Donglai shook his head and said calmly but firmly, "You guys go ahead, I won't go. I'm going to eat at the cafeteria and then head back to the dorm to study!"

"Huh? What's up? You're really going to study hard?"

Wang Huan was surprised, looking Wang Donglai up and down.

"Yeah, there are 92 days left. There's still time, and I want to give it my best shot!"

Wang Donglai didn't deny it; he admitted it directly, speaking with absolute sincerity.

"Alright, 92 days left. It's a good thing you're studying hard. Go back to the dorm and study then. I'm going out to play; if you need anything, just come find me in my dorm!"

Wang Huan patted Wang Donglai’s shoulder and said.

Just then, they reached the first floor, so Wang Huan let go of his shoulder and headed toward the school gate.

"Yeah, alright!"

Wang Donglai nodded in agreement.

After they parted ways, Wang Donglai suddenly shook his head and smiled.

In his past life, their group of childhood friends, which started as over a dozen people, had dwindled down to only three who made it to university.

Wang Huan spent every day online and eventually got into school through a sports scholarship thanks to connections. Wang You played for three years in school, didn't attend the junior college he got into, and went out into society to learn to be a chef. Wang Yang got into a second-tier school for science, but ended up working as a temp at China Unicom.

The bond they had since childhood eventually turned into WeChat contacts who hadn't spoken in years.

Recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, please support me, bosses...

(End of chapter)