Reborn in 1977, I will no longer be my brother's blood bag.

Chapter 41 He really thought he had won

The news spread like wildfire.

The news spread throughout the entire commune early the next morning.

"Have you heard? Lin Weidong got first place in the preliminary exam, and almost got a perfect score in math. The teachers at the county's top high school all praised him."

"The Lin family is really going to produce a college student this time."

You could hear it everywhere—at the production team intersection, by the well, and at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative.

Li Hongmei carried a box of soap into the room, and as soon as she put it down, she couldn't help but say, "It's all over the place, everyone's saying Lin Weidong is going to take the college entrance exam."

Director Zhao was calculating on his abacus: "Pass it on, good grades aren't a bad thing."

Li Hongmei glanced towards the warehouse: "I'm just afraid someone will use this as a pretext."

"What did you say?"

"They say Xiuhe couldn't beat him in the exam."

Director Zhao pushed the abacus aside: "If you don't pass the exam, you don't pass. The college entrance exam isn't about who shouts the loudest; the exam paper will tell the real story."

In the warehouse, Lin Xiuhe was organizing documents.

A math notebook lay open on the table, its margins covered with dense annotations. She had redone the practice test from last night, marking out all nine points that had been deducted—the essay, the calculation steps, not missing a single detail.

Suddenly the curtain was lifted, and Zhao Xiaomei rushed in.

"Sister Xiuhe! Have you heard?"

"I've heard about it."

"They all say Lin Weidong is the best in the whole county."

Lin Xiuhe capped the red pen: "That was just a preliminary assessment."

"But everyone believed it." Zhao Xiaomei put the workbook on the table. "Even my dad said that no matter how hard a girl tries, she can't compare to a boy's brains."

As she spoke, she pulled a test paper from her bag and placed it on the table. It was the same prediction test from last night—sixty-three points, with the areas circled in red pen standing out prominently.

"I watched it all night last night and did it again. This time it's seventy-one."

Lin Xiuhe took the test paper, flipped through it from beginning to end, and finally stopped at the composition page: "An improvement of eight points, not bad."

Zhao Xiaomei grinned, and her gloomy mood dissipated considerably.

Just then, the supply and marketing cooperative's hall suddenly became lively.

People came in, and more than one. The footsteps grew closer.

Li Hongmei lifted the curtain, her expression somewhat strange: "Xiuhe, your brother is here."

In the warehouse, Zhao Xiaomei looked up first. Lin Xiuhe put the test paper back on the table, got up and went out.

In the center of the hall, Lin Weidong stood. Several young people surrounded him, two of whom were students from the commune's middle school.

Upon seeing Lin Xiuhe emerge, some people immediately shut their mouths, while others secretly moved to the side.

Lin Weidong didn't leave. He was holding a math book in his hand, the cover of which was worn white from repeated use.

"Is something the matter?" Lin Xiuhe asked.

"It's nothing." Lin Weidong waved the book in his hand. "I'm here to buy some materials."

Director Zhao stood behind the counter, his abacus clicking away. Everyone could tell he wasn't there to buy materials; he was there to see someone.

Lin Weidong pulled a workbook from the bookshelf and flipped through a few pages: "I heard you've been preparing for mock exams lately."

"Um."

"Good."

After saying those two words, he put the book back on the shelf and pulled out another one: "I've looked at the paper with the highest score in the county; the difficulty level is average."

Many people in the hall exchanged glances, understanding the meaning behind the words.

Zhao Xiaomei stood at the warehouse door, clutching her exercise books, her teeth practically grinding to powder.

Lin Xiuhe didn't respond to that topic. She picked up a physics textbook from the shelf, flipped to the table of contents, and checked for any missing pages. Her actions were the same as usual.

Lin Weidong waited a few seconds, but received no response. His smile faded slightly: "What? Don't want to talk about grades?"

Lin Xiuhe put the documents back in their place: "Let's talk about it after the results are out. What's there to talk about now?"

Suddenly, someone in the hall burst into laughter. The sound wasn't loud, but it was quite clear.

Lin Weidong turned his head to look over, and the man immediately looked down at the shelf, as if nothing had happened.

The atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

Just then, another bicycle arrived at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative.

The car wheel kicked up a cloud of dust and stopped at the bottom of the steps. Zhou Zhiyuan got out of the car; a bulging burlap sack was strapped to the back seat.

He carried the sack inside, and when he passed Lin Weidong, he didn't stop and went straight into the warehouse.

"New data has arrived."

With just one sentence, he drew everyone's attention away.

Zhao Xiaomei was the first to go in, followed by Li Hongmei, and even several students who bought materials ran towards the warehouse.

The number of people in the hall suddenly dwindled to half.

Lin Weidong stood there, his math book still turned to the first page. The people who had been talking to him earlier had all dispersed.

Because everyone wants to know—what the new information is.

Compared to being "first in the county," college entrance examination materials are clearly more substantial.

Lin Weidong closed the book, and the cover made a soft snapping sound.

He then turned and left.

The bicycle sped out of the supply and marketing cooperative's courtyard, its wheels crunching over gravel, and rode towards the production team.

Inside the warehouse, Zhou Zhiyuan had already opened the sacks.

Inside wasn't any study material, but a stack of exam papers.

The top one is stamped with the seal of the county education bureau. The title is only one line—

County-wide Unified Mock Examination Venue Arrangement Table

Lin Xiuhe took it, her gaze falling on the first page.

Then it stopped.

First examination room, first row.

Lin Xiuhe.

Lin Weidong.

The names are right next to each other.

The warehouse suddenly became lively.

Zhao Xiaomei tiptoed and peeked out from beside Lin Xiuhe's shoulder.

"Where?"

"Let me see."

The exam room arrangement sheet was spread out, the smell of ink still lingering.

Zhao Xiaomei took a breath.

"What a coincidence!"

Li Hongmei came closer.

"What's so special about it?"

"The county arranges the exam venues, but they don't know you."

"That's true."

Zhao Xiaomei scratched her head, but still felt something was off. There were so many people in the whole commune, yet they were all assigned to the same place, and it was the first examination room.

Zhou Zhiyuan sorted out the remaining list and put it back in the sack.

"The first exam room was mostly filled with high-achieving students."

"The county likes this arrangement."

"For easy statistics."

Zhao Xiaomei immediately tensed up.

"And what about me?"

Zhou Zhiyuan flipped through the next few pages.

"The third examination room, the middle seat."

Zhao Xiaomei patted her chest, then remembered something and quickly put her hand down.

"The third exam room is fine too, as long as I can get in."

Laughter filled the warehouse, lightening the atmosphere considerably.

But Lin Xiuhe kept looking at the list, or more precisely, at the name next to it.

Lin Weidong.

In his past life, after the college entrance examination, he kept saying that he had performed poorly, that he hadn't solved the last two math problems, that his English essay was off-topic, and that the exam room was too noisy.

However, when the results came out, he still surpassed most people in the entire commune.

In this life, many things have changed, but some things remain the same.

For example, his talent, and his confidence.

"What are you thinking about?"

Zhou Zhiyuan asked.

Lin Xiuhe folded the list.

"I'm thinking about the exam venue."

"nervous?"

"Won't."

Zhou Zhiyuan nodded. That suited her personality.

Outside the warehouse, the sun was already beginning to set in the west.

Light streamed through the glass and fell on a row of old textbooks. Zhou Zhiyuan pulled a brown paper envelope from the bottom of the sack and handed it over.

"There's something else."

"What?"

"The county's No. 1 High School's internal mock exam."

Zhao Xiaomei's eyes lit up immediately.

"besides?"

"The last set."

Zhou Zhiyuan placed the envelope on the table.

"It wasn't originally intended for public use."

"The teacher used it to assess the students' understanding."

Lin Xiuhe took it; there were only five papers inside, the paper was yellowed, and the edges still had traces of ink printing.

At the very top of the first exam paper, there were a few small words written.

Mock exam paper for the 1977 graduating class of the elite program.