From the History of the Republic of China to Raising Children in the 1970s

53

Everyone was an adult, so they moved quickly. After a while, they all found their seats and sat down. Secretary Chu and Director Zhou took two stools and sat at the front of the conference room, facing the floor. Secretary Zhou stood steadily behind them, and didn't seem to want to start distributing the test papers immediately.

After everyone was seated, Director Zhou spoke again, "I think everyone knows the purpose of this exam, so I won't say any more nonsense. This test paper was delivered this morning and is still sealed. There are a total of 40 questions on the test paper, with a full score of 100. You must finish the questions within 100 minutes. You can hand in the paper early, but you can't postpone it. When the time is up, everyone must stop writing."

After saying this, he looked at Secretary Chu and asked him to say a few words.

Secretary Chu had been serious since he came in, and he said directly: "We have all been working for a long time, so we should all understand. I won't say much else, but I will remind you not to whisper to each other, not to look around, and anyone found cheating will be disqualified immediately."

He looked at everyone, "Do you understand?"

"Yes." Everyone answered almost in unison.

At the signal of Director Zhou, Secretary Zhou began to distribute the test papers, and soon Li Chengye got his own copy, wrote his name, and then read the whole test paper. The questions on this test paper were all daily questions, and there were few questions that really involved mechanical technology, which was not very difficult for Li Chengye. He started writing quickly without any pause. Y Mandarin was almost his second language. He was still speaking this language just a few months ago, so he was naturally very familiar with it.

Director Zhou soon noticed Li Chengye's movements. Among the people who were thinking from time to time, with hesitation and thinking on their faces, Li Chengye, who wrote as if inspired and did not need to think at all, was simply an outlier. Even the other people in the exam could not help but look at him.

"Ahem." Director Zhou coughed a few times, and the two people who were still staring at Li Chengye immediately retracted their gazes and concentrated on their own questions.

"It seems that there is no suspense about this result!" He whispered to Secretary Chu with some sighs.

Secretary Chu's expression remained unchanged, "It's too early to say that now. There will be a second test later, and it's still unknown who will win."

Director Zhou knew him well, and said with a smile: "You, you are so proud of yourself, I don't know you yet." Although there was a second test, they had already investigated several candidates for the exam and knew their general experience and personality. Li Chengye was the most suitable.

Not only did he know Y language, he was also learning D language with his friends recently. Moreover, he had been in the army for a long time before, and his personality was stable and he knew how to adapt. Therefore, they had tacitly agreed to let Li Chengye be the remaining candidate. They also discussed whether they didn't need to make such a fuss and just let Li Chengye go.

Unexpectedly, Secretary Chu opposed this arrangement. This was a very important opportunity. They certainly couldn't make a random decision. An exam was the best way to go by scores. Even if they failed, they couldn't have any opinions.

More than 40 minutes passed quickly. The paper in front of Li Chengye was already full. He had finished writing for a while. He checked it again. When he was sure there was no problem, he raised his hand to indicate that he was going to hand in the paper.

Secretary Zhou walked over quickly, collected the paper on Li Chengye's desk, and handed it to Director Zhou and others. Li Chengye walked out quietly.

Li Chengye sat on a chair outside the conference room, concentrating on reading a book. The time passed quickly while he was reading. It felt like an hour had passed in a short while. The remaining four people in the conference room came out one by one. They all looked unhappy, as if the exam was not going well.