Foreign language ┃ Does being deprived of the right to choose mean you're everywhere? (continued)
Qin Jiu wore a black overcoat, with a dove-gray cashmere scarf tucked inside the collar. One hand was in his coat pocket, and the other held a black umbrella as he waited unhurriedly for the approaching figure.
You Huo's tall figure emerged through the thick fog.
His face was pale and cold, his expression languid, and a black backpack hung loosely from his right shoulder.
Though he was still far away, Qin Jiu could make out every detail. His light brown eyes always seemed to be covered by a thin, brittle layer of glass, holding the same cold gleam as the stud in his one ear.
Qin Jiu lifted the edge of his umbrella slightly, and white snow slid down its taut ribs.
As You Huo approached, he politely tilted the umbrella to shelter him beneath it and drawled, "What a coincidence, meeting again. Have you been sleeping well these past few days, Mr. Hum?"
You Huo: "..."
You know my name, but you insist on calling me by a nickname. What the hell is wrong with you?
He looked at Qin Jiu for two seconds, then said coldly, "Does being deprived of the right to choose mean you're everywhere?"
Qin Jiu narrowed his eyes and chuckled. "You can't put it that way. Being deprived of the right to choose means that a rule-breaking examinee—that is, you-has no right to choose his subject when entering the next exam. What subject you take depends on what the chief invigilator—that is, me—is invigilating next. Do you understand that explanation?"
You Huo: "..."
His tone made it sound as though he were reasoning with a tantrum-throwing brat.
It was clearly a deliberate provocation. You Huo was furious, and his face had gone stiff from the cold.
Qin Jiu looked at his expression, his smile deepening. "As for what exam an invigilator supervises, generally speaking, we can choose. But I'm a little lazy, so I always leave it to chance. This time, I got a foreign language. But judging by your expression, you don't seem very happy. Next time-"
You Huo cut him off, scowling. "There's a fucking next time?"
Qin Jiu said, "Hard to say, given your long record."
You Huo: "..."
Qin Jiu said, "You can tell me in advance which subject you'd like me to get. If you behave well, I can consider it."
You Huo wanted to say, I'd like you to randomly drop dead. Can you consider that?
But on second thought, given how screwed up this system was, he might end up dying along with him.
So, seething with anger and wearing a face fit for a funeral, he waited silently at the edge of the fog.
Before long, Yu Wen emerged from the fog, dragging Old Yu along. Yu Yao and Mike followed.
"Cousin!" Yu Wen hurried over, then came to a sudden stop as soon as he saw Qin Jiu. "What are y-you doing here?"
A powerful desire to stay alive made him switch to a respectful form of address, but it couldn't hide the look on his face, as though he'd seen a ghost in broad daylight.
Qin Jiu said leisurely, "Keeping your cousin company while he waits for you."
Yu Wen looked even more like he'd seen a ghost and turned to You Huo, horror-struck.
You Huo: "..."
If looks could kill, Qin Jiu would already be dead.
Yu Wen worked up the nerve to ask, "Does the round-the-clock surveillance from the last round carry over to this one?"
Qin Jiu glanced at him.
Yu Wen: "Oh."
In the eyes of student Yu "absolutely spineless" Wen, this invigilator 001 was a big shot too. Big shots were always arrogant; only someone equally formidable, like his cousin, could make one spare him an extra glance or say a few more words.
He knew his own limitations, so he didn't dare say anything more.
"Zhou Jin and the others aren't here yet?" Yu Yao and Mike had come over too.
Old Yu said, "They were right behind us. Let's wait a little longer."
They waited a while, only for two unfamiliar faces to arrive.
One had a square face and wasn't very tall, but he was muscular all over and carried a sports bag over his shoulder.
The other was thinner, wrapped tightly in his coat and breathing noisily on his hands.
"What's going on? There are other people?" Yu Wen asked in surprise.
You Huo looked at Qin Jiu.
Qin Jiu tilted his head and asked You Huo, "Did anyone say the examinees always stayed the same?"
You Huo: "...No."
Qin Jiu said, "Choosing the same subject doesn't mean you'll be assigned to the same exam room. For example, invigilators 922 and No. 154 also got a foreign language at random this time, but they aren't in this exam. What does that tell you?"
You Huo: "That they don't want to see you either."
"..."
Yu Wen glanced at Qin Jiu, terrified that his cousin would anger the invigilator to death on the spot.
To his surprise, Qin Jiu only narrowed his eyes and smiled. "Wrong. It means there are few examinees in this exam, so only one invigilator is needed."
"Few examinees?"
You Huo frowned.
Sure enough, they waited another five minutes at the edge of the thick fog, but no one else from the previous exam arrived.
As it turned out, Zhou Jin and the others had all been assigned to other exam rooms.
The original group had included the old, the weak, the sick, the disabled, and the pregnant—the whole lot—but at least they'd spent time together and knew a little about one another.
Now there were two strangers, and they would have to learn to work together all over again.
It was hard to say whether that was good or bad.
"At least Old Yu didn't get separated from us," Yu Wen said, shaken at the thought.
The two strangers were unfazed by their new companions.
The square-faced man kept his brow furrowed and looked fierce. He nodded to everyone, then paid them no further attention.
The thinner man was a little friendlier. "I'm Chen Bin, from Chongqing. His name's Liang Yuanhao, and he's from Hebei, right?"
He turned to ask Liang Yuanhao, who glanced at the group and answered with a grunt.
"Chongqing? I served in the army there for a few years, so I guess that makes us fellow townsmen." Old Yu, a social genius, had found himself another fellow townsman by a roundabout route, and he and Chen Bin soon became friendly.
"Liang Yuanhao and I were in the same exam room for the last subject, and we've been assigned together again. I guess it's fate. This is my third exam." Chen Bin looked discouraged as he mentioned it. "I only survived the first two by sheer luck, and my scores were frighteningly low. I've barely got a chance of passing."
Old Yu was about to comfort him when You Huo suddenly cut in. "You know what score you need to pass?"
Chen Bin was taken aback. "Sixty. Didn't you know?"