Song He Exam Paper Returns to the World?

"Student, congratulations on completing the first exam. How did you feel about its difficulty?"

"Student, did you do all right on the language exam? Could you spare a few minutes to share your thoughts?"

"Student, did you take the Gaokao early? You don't look like a senior high school student!"

"What new question types were added to the new language exam?"

The reporters bombarded them with questions from all directions, while numerous parents nervously crowded around to watch, hoping to get first-hand information.

Yuan Tiangang remained perfectly calm. "I'll answer a few questions briefly and then leave. I still need to rest at noon, so I can't chat with you for too long."

The reporters repeatedly thanked him.

"It was difficult. It was slightly harder than the exams from previous years, but as long as your fundamentals were solid and you calmed down to think patiently, you could still answer the questions. So my evaluation is that this is a paper tiger of an exam. Don't let it scare you into panicking, and you can still get a decent score."

After Yuan Tiangang finished speaking, quite a few parents relaxed slightly. The new language exam had caused widespread panic, but after hearing what the student in front of them said, it seemed it was not all that difficult.

However, Yuan Tiangang's next few words plunged the parents present into an icy abyss!

"For the Classical Chinese Mini-Essay Question, all the prompt words were frequently used in strange-fiction novels, so I imitated one of the short stories in Taiping Guangji and made a few changes before writing a passage. If you usually enjoy reading strange-fiction novels like Liaozhai or Zi Bu Yu, this question would be very easy."

"For the Classic Literature Question, as long as you've thoroughly read the Four Great Classical Novels, it was practically a freebie. The only question that was slightly difficult asked you to match poems and lyrics with characters from Dream of the Red Chamber. At first glance, each line of poetry or lyrics in the question seemed to fit two or three characters from Dream of the Red Chamber, but after careful analysis, you'd find that there was only one answer."

"The Couplet Question was very interesting. It contained quite a few little traps, such as ancient place names, allusions from poetry and lyrics, and words with multiple meanings woven into the couplets. Every couplet in the question had three layers of meaning. I estimate that you'd get one level's worth of points for matching just one layer."

"For the poetry-and-lyrics question, the three tune patterns provided were Man Jiang Hong, Huan Xi Sha, and Yi Jiang Nan. They're all extremely common tune patterns, so with some patient thought, you could write something."

After saying this, the three Child Prodigies departed in high spirits, following Teacher Liu out.

A huge stream of students filed out of the school gates, every one of them looking worse than if they had eaten a dead fly.

Some students simply came out in tears. The moment they saw their parents, they burst into loud sobs!

The entire area outside the school was filled with sorrow. Curses rang out everywhere, and an atmosphere of despair hung in the air!

Frontier Technology University, School of Pharmacy, Dean's Office.

Song He and Xiang Xiaotong ate lunch while looking at the Gaokao language exam that had just been posted online.

"Oh? This year's language exam is pretty interesting." Song He raised an eyebrow.

"The students are probably all cursing." Xiang Xiaotong laughed. "Let's see if we can find any student reviews."

Song He clicked the mouse, quickly finding a pile of comments from netizens.

"Damn it! Why was this year's language exam so difficult? My daughter came out of the exam room crying! What the hell was the Test Question Setter thinking?"

"Under normal circumstances, the language exam is never too difficult, so students can get used to the exam room. But this year, they went against tradition. The language exam was unprecedentedly difficult!"

"How difficult was this year's language exam? Remember Song He's math exam from back then? One paper had students seeing the sun and moon go dark and the sky and earth grow dim! This year's exam could be called the language version of the Song He Exam Paper. Its main feature was an insanely high difficulty level—it didn't want students to live!"

Song He stared in bewilderment. "People still remember me?"

Xiang Xiaotong burst out laughing. "Who told you to make your exam papers so abnormal back then?"

The two continued reading.

"Oh no, my kid usually scores 130 in language. He just told me he'd be lucky to get 100 this time!"

"I'm a language homeroom teacher. I ask all parents and candidates to keep calm. This language exam was unprecedentedly difficult, so it definitely won't create a gap between students. Everyone's scores will be very low. The key is still the exams that follow!"

"That's right! Everyone, don't worry. If the questions are difficult, everyone's scores will be low, and the undergraduate cutoff and key-university cutoff will be lower too! This is when mental strength matters. Whoever stays calm can get a high score!"

"Every year, one Gaokao subject is extremely difficult. In previous years, it was usually a minor subject, mathematics, or English. This year, it's language. In a sense, that's actually a good thing, because language doesn't easily create a gap between students. The subjects that follow will definitely be easy!"

That afternoon, at the Jinghai No. 4 High School exam site!

As soon as the rough-work paper was handed out, the atmosphere in the exam room became oppressive. They had actually given every student four sheets of rough-work paper!

When the answer sheets and mathematics papers were distributed, the candidates drew in sharp breaths and collectively entered a state of shock and stupor. They couldn't believe this was real. Many reached out and pinched themselves, hoping to wake up from the nightmare.

The math questions had changed drastically as well. There was practically not a single familiar question type; they were all new questions no one had seen before!

The final few major questions were especially frightening. Their prompts actually stretched seven or eight full lines, and the densely packed tiny print and illustrations were terrifying!

When the bell rang, numerous candidates hurriedly picked up their pens and began calculating furiously on their rough-work paper!

Yuan Tiangang, Qi Feng, and Yang Yu remained expressionless. After picking up their pens, they calmly wrote the multiple-choice answers, finishing every multiple-choice question in just one minute before moving on to the fill-in-the-blank section!

There were four fill-in-the-blank questions. After making a couple of quick calculations with their pens, they finished all of them in under five minutes!

After filling in their answer sheets, they moved on to the major questions. The three wrote calmly, at a steady, even pace as peaceful as copying out a passage from a textbook. They did not pause even once.

Forty-five minutes after the exam began, the three Child Prodigies successively put down their pens and stared blankly out the window.

They stared into space for a long time. When the time came that they could submit their papers early, all three raised their hands and soon gathered in the lounge again.

"I left one multiple-choice question blank on the answer sheet," Qi Feng said. "I'll control my score to around 145. This year's math exam is quite innovative!"

"I didn't control mine. I went straight for a perfect score," Yuan Tiangang said. "After all, I'm going to study in the Mathematics Department. If I can't get a perfect score on the Gaokao Exam Paper, it'll be too embarrassing after I enroll."

"I got a perfect score too," Yang Yu said. "This year's math exam was so interesting. It reminded me of the entrance exam for the Mathematics Department at Paris Higher Normal School."

"Now that you mention it, it really does!" Yuan Tiangang raised an eyebrow. "This year's paper has the style of the Mathematics Department at Paris Higher Normal School. Maybe the Test Question Setter graduated from there?"

After chatting for a long while, the bell signaling the collection of papers rang. The three rose, went downstairs, and strode out of the school. Before reaching the school gate, they tacitly put on their masks.

The reporters surrounded them again. This time, even more parents had gathered to watch. After all, mathematics was what most students feared most, and with the first language exam leaving devastation everywhere, everyone was desperate to hear the good news that the math exam had been easy.

Unfortunately, there was no good news. There was instead a whole basketful of bad news.

"We can't objectively evaluate this math paper, because mathematics is what we're best at," Yuan Tiangang said. "It was extremely easy from our perspective, but for the other candidates, I'm afraid it wasn't a friendly paper."

"Could you explain in more detail?" the reporters asked in unison.

"This paper had a very strong Gaulish mathematical style. More precisely, it had the Gaulish mathematical style of several decades ago. As everyone knows, Gaul's mathematical standards were among the best in the world back then. Even many old Gaulish math papers remain very interesting today."

"The characteristic of Gaulish papers is that they place great emphasis on logic and rapid comprehension. So this year's questions contained many small traps. If you couldn't calculate step by step with airtight logic, it was very easy to fall into them."

"In previous years, the types of math questions were relatively fixed and mainly tested material from the textbooks. This year's math exam combined new concepts with old knowledge. Roughly one-third of the questions first described an extracurricular mathematical concept. You had to read and understand the question, learn and apply it on the spot, and then use the newly learned concept with the knowledge from your textbooks."

"Students reviewing their second-year material will definitely be interested in this paper. I suggest you look through the entrance exams for the Mathematics Department at Paris Higher Normal School from several decades ago. They'll be very helpful."

After saying this, the three Child Prodigies departed in high spirits, following Teacher Liu away.

The reporters and parents present were all stunned, with a very bad feeling coming over them!

In the distance, numerous students were walking out weakly and listlessly. Many began crying before they even reached the school gate. A few minutes later, the streets were filled with students crying after their exams had shattered them!

At seven that evening, Song He and Xiang Xiaotong were still eating in front of the computer while browsing the Gaokao mathematics exam.

From the moment the afternoon exam began, Resentment Value had been frantically pouring into Song He's field of vision. He had guessed what was happening: the questions had to be extremely difficult, and many students had mistakenly thought he had written the exam and were cursing him furiously in their hearts.

After finishing the paper, he looked at the comments section. Sure enough, he had been wrongfully blamed. Song He sighed helplessly, while Xiang Xiaotong couldn't help giggling.

"We're doomed. This morning's language exam was as difficult as the Song He Exam Paper, and this afternoon's math exam really was the Song He Exam Paper!"

"Damn it! Did Song He write this year's math exam too? What a bastard!"

"Millions of students' dreams shattered in the exam room! The Song He Exam Paper returns to the world! The most difficult Gaokao mathematics exam in five years has appeared!"

"I'm seriously done with this. Anyone can tell from the difficulty that Song He wrote the exam. Can't you just do research, run your company, and make money? Why do you have to make things difficult for my kid?"

"My child came home crying. There had originally been a poster of Song He and Xiang Xiaotong at a press conference hanging on the bedroom wall. After coming home, my child was so angry that she tore it down!"

Xiang Xiaotong laughed so hard she bent forward and back. "You're being cyberbullied. Do you want to make a post clarifying things?"

"No rush," Song He said.

"No rush?" Xiang Xiaotong asked in surprise.

Song He did not explain further. Resentment Value was pouring in more densely than a torrential downpour, and he couldn't bear to give it up for now. He would let them curse him for two days, then make a post clarifying things once the Resentment Value had dwindled.

The Gaokao rules differed from province to province and were constantly changing. Some provinces allowed students to choose their subjects. The province where Jinghai City was located had once done the same, but a few years ago, it had returned to the traditional division between arts and sciences.

Thus, on the morning of the second day of the Gaokao, Yuan Tiangang, Qi Feng, and Yang Yu all received the Comprehensive Science exam paper at the same time.

The classroom was completely silent. It wasn't because the paper was easy; most of the students had already fallen into despair. The Comprehensive Science paper was shockingly difficult too, appearing as incomprehensible as a heavenly text wherever they looked!

As soon as the bell rang, the three Child Prodigies began answering simultaneously!

They did one multiple-choice question per second, producing an answer as soon as they finished reading each question. They filled in the blanks just as quickly, their hands barely stopping. The calculation questions were even more child's play, completed smoothly.

Forty minutes after the exam began, the three Child Prodigies successively put down their pens and stared blankly into space!

After waiting bitterly until eleven o'clock, the three once again submitted their papers half an hour early. There was no point in sitting there doing nothing without submitting them.

They gathered in the lounge again, but their topic of conversation had shifted slightly.

"I controlled my score to 270, but something feels off," Yuan Tiangang said. "The Comprehensive Science questions also seem quite difficult. Every subject is pretty difficult this year! If we ultimately control our total scores to around 680 or 690, is there a chance we'll become the top scorers?"

"Not necessarily, right?" Yang Yu said. "The difficult questions will only be hard for the middle and lower-ranking students. I feel the top students' scores will remain stable."

"I got a perfect score. I'm going to the School of Pharmacy, so it'd be embarrassing if I didn't get full marks in Comprehensive Science. This afternoon, I plan to get an extremely low score in English and bring my total down to 685." Qi Feng laughed. "There's no need to worry needlessly. Every year is difficult, and every year produces high scores. Don't think we're the only outstanding ones. There are plenty of experts out there!"

"That's true." Yuan Tiangang nodded. "Then I'll follow the original plan this afternoon and do the English exam, controlling my score at 680."

When the bell signaling the collection of papers rang, the three left the school gates first, just as they had the previous day. This time, however, they had no interest in being interviewed. They only told the reporters twice that it was somewhat difficult before turning around and leaving.

In the blink of an eye, the final exam of the afternoon arrived: English!

As soon as the exam began, it started with the English listening section.

The three Child Prodigies did not bother with the listening questions at all. They began the written portion directly, abandoning the listening points altogether.

Yuan Tiangang quickly finished reading the first and second reading-comprehension questions, rapidly filled in the answer sheet, and turned the page.

As soon as he turned the page, a few scattered page-turning sounds rang out in the classroom. Soon, the sounds rose and fell one after another, as numerous candidates turned pages in confusion and fear.

Yuan Tiangang was puzzled. Although he hadn't done the listening section, he had been listening distractedly. It clearly wasn't time to turn to the questions on the next page yet, so why was the entire classroom turning pages?

Could none of them understand it? Did they hear other people turning pages and follow along? Is this exam room really that terrible? If you can't understand it, why are you even listening? You might as well guess blindly!

As soon as the listening section ended, the three Child Prodigies finished their papers too!

With vocabularies of seven or eight thousand words, there wasn't a single word on the entire paper that they didn't understand. Reading it was as smooth as reading an elementary-school language textbook, so they didn't need much time at all.

After waiting bitterly for a long while, they handed in their papers and went to the lounge.

The three relaxed completely, all looking somewhat dazed.

"We're done already?" Qi Feng asked. "It feels... it feels like a game."

"I was actually a little nervous before the exam. I really was worrying for nothing." Yang Yu laughed.

"How much did you control your scores?" Yuan Tiangang asked. "I controlled mine to between 680 and 685. I feel that if I gave it my all, getting 740 wouldn't be a problem."

"Same!" Qi Feng and Yang Yu said in unison.