The Spring Festival came early that year; the school had already let out by Little New Year.
By the time the Lantern Festival ended, it would only be early February on the Gregorian calendar.
That made the winter break especially short, and even the seniors in their final year of high school did not return early.
Among the guys in Room 302, Xu Haibo was the first to arrive back at school, bringing plenty of New Year snacks with him.
Then came Yang Hao, Li Yulin, Li Dongqiang...
They had all returned to their villages and small towns for the holiday, where there were no newspapers or internet, leaving them almost completely cut off from the world.
Even if they visited relatives in the city during the New Year and stopped by an internet café, they would only chat on QQ or play games. They hardly ever browsed forums or portal sites.
No one knew what kind of stir Chen Guiliang had caused!
After not seeing one another for an entire vacation, they shared snacks and sat on the edges of their beds, shooting the breeze.
It was not until Xie Yang arrived at the dorm and slapped a copy of Southern Weekly onto the table.
His brother Xie Fei had returned home from the provincial capital on the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, carrying several newspapers with him.
"Chen the Hero has taken off!" Xie Yang solemnly announced.
Xu Haibo hurriedly asked, "First prize?"
With a mysterious look, Xie Yang said, "Read the newspaper yourselves."
Xu Haibo flipped through several pages before finally spotting the article, "Seven Steps into Prestigious Universities: How Should Special Admissions for Geniuses Balance with Educational Fairness?"
He was stunned before he had even finished half of it, muttering to himself, "That's badass."