Pair of Aces. Can't Beat That!

The next morning was the comprehensive liberal arts exam.

Chen Guiliang thought he wouldn't know how to do it, but after getting the test paper, several questions in a row turned out to be quite simple.

But as he worked through it, he started to feel unsure again.

They were clearly multiple-choice questions, but there seemed to be several correct options.

He reread the questions repeatedly, his head going numb.

After roughly finishing all the questions, Chen Guiliang felt okay. For the comprehensive liberal arts exam with a total score of 300, getting 160 points should be no problem.

If he had studied seriously for this, it would have been easy to increase his score.

Chen Guiliang handed in his paper early and returned to the dormitory to continue writing his articles.

At noon, he ate in the cafeteria. The aunt serving the food seemed to have a grudge against him, not giving him a single pleasant look and deliberately shaking the ladle a few extra times.

With all the shaking, half the food disappeared.

There was nothing he could do. The Chen Guiliang of high school couldn't tolerate any sand in his eyes and loved to argue with everything and everyone.

The school cafeteria, relying on the "no leaving school for meals" rule, became increasingly outrageous during his second year of high school. In the summer heat of 40 degrees Celsius, leftover food was not treated in any way and was sold again the next meal, even if it had gone bad, completely unafraid of sending students to the hospital.

Chen Guiliang rallied several students to cause a fuss, even posting big-character posters outside the principal's office and almost getting into a fight with the security guard who was preventing students from leaving.

Coupled with a student who broke a bone climbing over the wall to eat outside, the school was finally forced to cancel the ban on leaving school for meals.

As for the food-serving aunt in front of him, she was also a strange one.

Breakfast time was already very tight, with students waiting in a long line for noodles. This aunt encountered the son of an acquaintance, not only actively letting him cut to the front of the line but also slowly scooping beef to fill his bowl to the brim.

The bowl was already full, but she kept adding more, finally piling the beef into a small mountain. Meanwhile, other students' beef noodles only had a pitiful two small pieces of beef per bowl.

The bowl of noodles was too hot and full to carry, and the aunt actually abandoned the waiting students to go help the acquaintance's son find a tray.

At that time, Chen Guiliang was starving and rarely ate breakfast, and he was so disgusted by that aunt that he had an outburst on the spot.

Ultimately, all the students in line refused to eat, and some even smashed the cafeteria's bowls and plates on the floor.

But that aunt suffered no consequences; she was a relative of the cafeteria contractor.

Chen Guiliang, on the other hand, was given a major demerit by the school for leading the disturbance!

"Not enough."

At this moment, Chen Guiliang pointed at the stainless steel tray and stood stubbornly at the serving window.

The food-serving aunt pretended not to hear and put down the ladle, not moving.

The students behind him grew increasingly impatient. Some accused Chen Guiliang of blocking the way, while others urged the aunt to hurry up.

The aunt at the next window advised, "Just let it go."

It was unclear who she was advising.

The food-serving aunt finally added half a scoop more. After Chen Guiliang left satisfied, she cursed in a low voice, "Beggar, you'll starve to death one day!"

The aunt next to her said, "Why are you arguing with him? He's already on probation."

"Someone like him should be expelled, he doesn't act like a student at all!" The food-serving aunt didn't think she was in the wrong.

Chen Guiliang didn't know he had been cursed. He wolfed down his food at the dining table, this young body seemingly never full.

After lunch, he continued writing his manuscripts.

In the afternoon, he took the English exam. Chen Guiliang felt pretty good, at least without the sense of powerlessness he felt during the math exam.

"Brother Chen, let's go to the internet cafe together!"

As he left the exam room, Xie Yang called out to him.

Chen Guiliang laughed, "I ate a lot today, it'll be easy to poop a pound."

Only then did Xie Yang remember his vow to "poop a pound after going online once." He stood there for a long time with a pained expression, saying dejectedly, "Forget it, forget it, we'll go after the college entrance exam. My Magic 3 helmet will depreciate soon."

Then, this guy quickly went to eat and returned to the dormitory to read novels.

People always need a catalyst to grow.

The Xie Yang in Chen Guiliang's memory barely got into a second-tier university. He didn't know what happened to him, but he suddenly became mature during his freshman year.

He stopped playing games, stopped reading novels, and worked while studying.

Xie Yang earned his own living expenses from sophomore to senior year and was admitted to a 985 graduate school. Later, he passed the civil service exam and, with his own efforts and his brother's help, was promoted to county magistrate by the age of 40.

That evening, Chen Guiliang finished writing the four manuscripts.

The next day was a day off, making space for the younger students' midterm exams, while the third-year teachers were busy grading papers.

Chen Guiliang walked for twenty minutes to the post office near the school.

He bought four envelopes, put the manuscripts and the submission page inside, and sent them to the Sprout editorial department via registered mail. Actually, one envelope would have been enough, but he deliberately sent several envelopes to increase the chances of the initial submission being approved.

Then he went to the bank to check his bank account, which still had 52.68 yuan left.

At this time, regardless of whether it was an interbank transaction, withdrawing money from a different location required a handling fee, and the proportion charged was quite high.

But there were ways to bypass it, such as both the depositor and the withdrawer using the same account.

which is to say, Chen Guiliang's parents, holding bank cards, would deposit money in another city. Chen Guiliang, using a secondary card or passbook, could withdraw money at the relevant bank in the city where the account was opened without paying any transaction fees.

Conversely, if Chen Guiliang deposited money into the account, his parents would have to pay a transaction fee to withdraw it in another city.

Pressing the withdrawal button on the ATM, Chen Guiliang took out 50 yuan.

This little bit of money wasn't enough to spend freely, Chen Guiliang pondered how to earn some.

At this time, China was full of business opportunities, but none of them had anything to do with a left-behind child. To make money, one either needed startup capital or relied on background connections.

Chen Guiliang had neither!

Write articles and submit them?

He could try, but the money-making speed was too slow, unless it became a bestseller after publication.

Chen Guiliang's mind was full of wild thoughts, and he muddled through the day off, having to attend evening self-study in the evening.

He followed his roommates to the classroom, which was noisy and lively. But there were also many students who were deaf to the noise, quietly sitting in their seats reading books and practicing problems.

Chen Guiliang was in the liberal arts experimental class.

Although it was called an experimental class, some people got in through connections.

Chen Guiliang walked to the back row based on memory, where there were only three seats, the thrones of the "Three Phantoms."

Besides Chen Guiliang, the other two "Three Phantoms" were both connected.

There used to be "Four Heavenly Kings," but one transferred out in the third year of high school, returning to his so-called registered residence. Heh, college entrance examination migrant.

"You're here?"

His deskmate, Guan Zhiqiang, shifted his butt, but his eyes were still fixed on the novel.

Chen Guiliang smiled, "You came early."

Guan Zhiqiang's grades were at the bottom of the entire grade. His appearance was also hard to describe, looking quite simple-minded at first glance.

This guy was always reading novels in class, giggling foolishly as he read, sometimes even drooling.

Chen Guiliang had always thought that Guan Zhiqiang could at most attend a vocational college.

However, he had no idea that Guan Zhiqiang suddenly became an art student, and without anyone knowing, got into a certain art academy. After graduation, he stayed at the school directly, becoming a counselor, and later even became a leader in the administrative department of the art academy.

Having connections at home was different; from high school to university and then graduation, he could always rely on connections to get by.

With Guan Zhiqiang's painting skills, if you asked him to draw a turtle, he could draw a crab. God knows how he passed the art exam.

Among the Three Phantoms in the class, the remaining one was the scoundrel Li Jun.

Li Jun walked into the classroom with his hands in his pockets, a shiny MP3 hanging on his chest, and came to his seat with his head held high.

"Guan Zhiqiang!" Li Jun shouted loudly.

Guan Zhiqiang wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and slowly turned his head to look.

Li Jun showed off proudly, "I called you to play mahjong, but you son of a bitch didn't come. I won over three hundred today."

"Ho ho." Guan Zhiqiang replied with a silly grin.

He only looked silly, he wasn't actually silly, and he wouldn't play mahjong with Li Jun. He had played a few times before, and Li Jun always teamed up to win his money.

Chen Guiliang couldn't be bothered with these two idiots; he was flipping through his math textbook.

Some content he could understand, some he had to review the knowledge from the first and second years of high school first.

After some time, the classroom quickly quieted down.

The homeroom teacher, Liu Shuying, arrived, followed by a tall girl.

Chen Guiliang was getting familiar with the textbook, when Guan Zhiqiang poked his arm hard, excitedly whispering like a pervert, "Look, look, there's a beauty!"

Everyone's attention in the class was focused on that girl.

Especially the male students.

Guan Zhiqiang whispered, "Definitely the school beauty!"

Chen Guiliang glanced at her and said indifferently, "Pair of Aces."

"What?" Guan Zhiqiang didn't understand.

Chen Guiliang added, "Can't play."

At this time, the "Pair of Aces" meme didn't exist yet, and with Guan Zhiqiang's touching intelligence, it would probably be difficult for him to figure out the meaning on his own.

The quiet classroom became noisy again, everyone quietly discussing the beauty.

"Clap clap!"

The homeroom teacher, Liu Shuying, clapped her hands twice, "Stop talking. We have a new classmate in our class, let her introduce herself first."

This girl was probably 1.7 meters tall, wearing a gray hoodie paired with blue jeans, looking fresh, casual, and capable.

Her hair was tied in a single ponytail, with no other accessories.

Her eyebrows were slightly thick, and her pair of phoenix eyes were bright and lively. She could be described as having thick eyebrows and big eyes, and her whole person seemed to have an added touch of heroism.

However, she was flat-chested.

The airport.

With her backpack slung over her left shoulder and her hands tucked into the pockets of her hoodie, she walked up to the podium and said in a Rongcheng accent, "My name is Bian Guanyue."

Is that all for the self-introduction?

Liu Shuying was stunned for a moment, then immediately said, "Very good, welcome, Bian Guanyue!"

Thunderous applause erupted in the classroom. Guan Zhiqiang clapped particularly loudly, his mouth wide open, almost drooling.

Although both were Shu dialects, the local dialect sounded too harsh.

Bian Guanyue, on the other hand, spoke the provincial capital's dialect, a sweet, soft, plum-blossom-like tone that sounded like heavenly music to all the boys in the class.

So gentle.

A "hammer" spoken from the mouth of a girl like this would definitely sound better than a local girl shouting "gege."

Xie Yang even had the thought of falling for someone else. He repeatedly compared Zhou Jing and Bian Guanyue in his mind, and the more he compared, the more he felt that Zhou Jing was completely outclassed.

Sigh, Zhou Jing, don't blame me for being a heartless man. It's just that the new classmate is too outstanding.

Xu Haibo had also been peeking, but he kept pretending to read a book. This kid would blush unconsciously if he spoke a few extra words alone with a girl, so how could he dare to face a beauty like Bian Guanyue directly?

Li Jun suddenly stood up and waved, "Classmate Bian, there's an empty seat here, there's an empty seat here!"

He was the only one in the class sitting alone, with an empty desk beside him, left by the student who had moved for the college entrance exam.

Bian Guanyue walked over and sat down next to Li Jun with a blank expression.

The boys were filled with envy.

Damn Li Jun is so lucky!

Li Jun grinned and tried to get close, "Classmate Bian, your name is really nice, just like a female knight in a historical drama."

"Thank you," Bian Guanyue replied coldly.

Li Jun added, "My name is Li Jun. Li as in the plum tree, Jun as in gentleman."

Bian Guanyue didn't respond.

"Clap clap!"

Liu Shuying clapped her hands again, "Quiet! The mid-term exam results are out. Some students have made great progress, while others... I don't know what they're doing..."

Li Jun, who had been extremely excited, instantly shut up and stopped talking when he heard that the exam results were out.