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

More and more people gathered in front of the bulletin board.

Nobody was in a hurry to leave after the Chinese exam was over.

They were all crowded in front of that piece of white paper.

List of Key Candidates to Pay Attention to in the First Examination Room

There are only two names below.

Lin Weidong.

Lin Xiuhe.

There was no third one.

"What do you mean?"

"Key areas of focus?"

"Is he a candidate favored by the county?"

The discussion grew louder and louder.

Zhao Xiaomei struggled to squeeze in.

After seeing the list, he immediately turned around and ran outside.

"Sister Xiuhe! You're amazing!"

She ran all the way back, her forehead covered in sweat.

There are only two names listed!

On the side of the playground, many students from the first examination room were also discussing it.

One of the boys, who was wearing glasses, suddenly said, "I know this list."

The surroundings immediately fell silent.

"What do you mean?"

"It's an old tradition of the county's No. 1 High School." The boy pushed up his glasses. "The marking team will mark the people most likely to get high scores in advance so that we can focus on analyzing their papers. Last year, we did the same thing in our internal assessment, and the people on the list were basically ranked at the top in the end."

As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding area instantly became lively.

"Doesn't that mean—"

"Are those two the strongest?"

"More or less." The boy nodded. "At least that's what the teacher thinks."

Lin Weidong heard it from the other side of the playground.

Several students surrounded him, their expressions noticeably more enthusiastic than before.

"Weidong, the teacher called roll, we're all set this time, right?"

"There's definitely a chance of us getting first place in the whole county."

Lin Weidong's lips curled up slightly, but he did not refute.

In fact, that's what he thought too.

I did well on the Chinese exam just now, except for the last question in the reading comprehension section.

Mathematics is one of his strongest subjects. If he performs normally in the upcoming exams, he might have a chance to be number one in the county.

Thinking of this, he subconsciously looked towards the other side of the playground.

Lin Xiuhe was standing under the shade of a tree, holding the materials she would need for the afternoon's exam. She didn't head towards the notice board, as if the list had nothing to do with her.

Lin Weidong frowned.

This feeling made him uncomfortable. From childhood to adulthood, as long as he got good grades, everyone around him would fawn over him. But Lin Xiuhe seemed completely indifferent.

Just then, the bell rang to signal the start of the afternoon exam.

Ring ring—

All the candidates began to walk towards the teaching building.

The second subject is mathematics.

It is also the subject that can most effectively differentiate students.

First examination room.

The moment the curls were applied, Lin Weidong's eyes lit up.

The earlier, more challenging questions were almost all familiar question types. Functions, geometry, equations—many of the questions were even similar to those on practice tests he had seen before.

The pen tip moved swiftly.

The first page.

Page 2.

Page 3.

The speed is getting faster and faster.

In less than forty minutes, he had finished the earlier, more difficult questions. He even started checking his work ahead of time.

In the first examination room, many people were already showing signs of strain. Some were stuck on geometry problems, while others were struggling with the proofs. Only Lin Weidong kept going.

This feels great, like standing on a mountaintop looking down.

On the other side, Lin Xiuhe's speed remained unchanged.

Neither fast nor slow.

Each question was answered completely.

Especially the proof questions, the steps are so clear they look like they've been printed out.

An hour has passed.

The final, most challenging question appeared.

The atmosphere in the classroom had clearly changed. Many students were looking at the questions over and over again, filling sheet after sheet of scratch paper.

After reading the problem, Lin Weidong wrote down the first, second, and third steps. Halfway through the derivation, his pen suddenly stopped—the rest of the result was incorrect.

He recalculated, but it was still wrong.

The draft paper was quickly half-filled, and sweat began to bead on his forehead.

Just then, the sound of pages turning came from the side.

It was very light, yet exceptionally clear.

Lin Weidong looked over subconsciously.

Lin Xiuhe had written the last line, then turned the draft paper over and began to check it.

Lin Weidong gripped his pen, pushed the draft paper aside, and rewrote the conditions. But the more he calculated, the more something seemed off.

Five minutes before the bell rang, he finally wrote down the answer. But he wasn't sure himself.

Lin Xiuhe had already checked the first page.

The exam is over.

Collect the papers.

Get up.

Leave.

As I walked out of the teaching building, the setting sun was hanging at the end of the playground.

A group of students huddled together discussing the final, most challenging question.

"Have you figured it out?"

"no."

"I stopped halfway through."

"It's too difficult."

The discussion grew louder and louder.

Just then, a student from the county's top high school suddenly shouted, "The answer to the last question is negative three!"

The surrounding area exploded instantly.

"Really?"

"Who figured that out?"

The student raised his hand and pointed into the distance, towards the first examination room.

"I heard from the teacher that only two people in the entire exam room completed the question completely today."

"One is Lin Weidong."

"another--"

He paused.

"It's Lin Xiuhe."

As soon as he finished speaking, the noisy discussion around him suddenly stopped.

No one expected that Lin Xiuhe would stand shoulder to shoulder with him at the top of the most difficult final question in the entire county.

Not far away, Lin Weidong looked up at the sound, his gaze passing through the crowd and landing directly on the calm figure under the shade of the tree.

That something that had always been firmly in my heart suddenly wavered.