CHAPTER 240: CHAPTER 240: WHY INSIST ON NINETY-EIGHT?

Lin Xiang had no objections.

Director Dong and a few other teachers from the admissions office discussed for a moment and gave Lin Xiang the last mock exam paper from Huqing University Affiliated Middle School to answer on the spot.

"The difficulty of the mock exam paper at the Affiliated Middle School is about the same as the college entrance examination. Your entrance exam score is 467, and due to various restrictions like different exam venues, we allow a margin of error of ten points. As long as your score is not lower than 457, I will issue you the admission notice on the spot."

Cheng An and Lin Yun moved an empty desk, placing it right in the center of the admissions office, surrounded by teachers from Huaqing University.

Being stared at by several teachers without blinking while doing the test, someone with a poor mindset could easily collapse.

Lin Xiang also collapsed.

She had worked hard memorizing current affairs before the college entrance exam, but after a summer vacation, she had forgotten almost everything.

For this political paper, she only had the confidence to pass.

Her requirement was to score no less than 457 points to re-issue the admission notice, so apart from politics, she couldn’t control her scores like in the college entrance exam. Otherwise, with the slightest carelessness, Huaqing University would slip through her fingers.

After briefly browsing through several exam papers, Lin Xiang picked up the pen Director Dong kindly provided and started answering the questions.

The science subjects presented no real difficulty for her, taking less than an hour to complete the mathematics, physics, and chemistry papers.

Then came Chinese. The initial questions were straightforward, and Lin Xiang answered them smoothly, until she reached the essay part. After drafting the thesis on scrap paper and having a clear outline in her mind, she began writing quickly.

Lastly, it was politics.

Lin Xiang racked her brains, going all out just to fill the politics paper.

Director Dong originally gave her four hours.

After all, this concerned a student’s future, so they planned to spend the entire afternoon here with Lin Xiang.

But in less than two and a half hours, Lin Xiang handed in her paper.

"Lin Xiang, do you not want to check it again?"

Lin Xiang shook her head.

She was confident in science and Chinese, no need to check.

She had no confidence in politics, so checking was futile.

Director Dong distributed Lin Xiang’s papers for several teachers to grade together.

There were standard answers for the math, science, and chemistry, so they only needed to mark ticks or crosses following the answers. The politics and Chinese, especially the essay, were somewhat subjective to the grading teachers’ perceptions, so these two subjects’ papers were reviewed by three teachers. After that, the scores from all three teachers were summed up to get an average score as Lin Xiang’s final result.

Though Lin Xiang took just over two hours for the answers, the teachers used more than an hour for grading.

When the final score was obtained, Director Dong’s expression was hard to describe.

"Lin Xiang, your score..."

Lin Xiang asked nervously, "Did I score 457 points?"

Lin Xiang was tense, and Lin Yun was even more nervous than her, unconsciously grabbing Lin Xiang’s hand, not daring to breathe.

Cheng An’s gaze fell on the two clasped hands, looking at the two people with no idea of the oddity, under the gold-rimmed glasses were eyes filled with a complicated expression.

Director Dong sighed helplessly, "457 points. You won’t even score a single point more, will you!"

"Chinese 98, Math 98, Physics 98, Chemistry 98, Politics... 65! That’s a whole 21 points lower than your entrance exam score! I know you have a subject bias, but you can’t be biased to this extent!"

Knowing she scored the target points, Lin Xiang secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Getting the admission notice was all that mattered.

As for Director Dong’s earnest teaching...

"Director Dong, I’ve deeply realized my mistakes. I promise to study politics seriously from now on and improve my ideological awareness."

Director Dong wanted to lecture her, but in the end, he spared her some face.

He took out another set of the comprehensive science test and pointed his chin at Lin Xiang, "Write this paper too, if your overall score can reach 270, I will personally reissue your admission notice."

In essence, Director Dong was somewhat distrustful of Lin Xiang.

Although Cheng An assured he could vouch for Lin Xiang with his and his father’s name, what if the father and son conspired to deceive him?

Besides, with Lin Xiang’s score, except for the two points deducted in Chinese for the essay, all the other three subjects missed only one multiple-choice question. It was hard not to suspect if Lin Xiang had the correct answers.

And the real culprit providing the answers was Cheng An!

So, Director Dong wanted Lin Xiang to write another test paper.

This test paper was newly made by the comprehensive science group of the Affiliated Middle School intended as a placement exam for senior high school students.

His child was at the Affiliated Middle School, and coincidentally his spouse was a teacher in the senior high school chemistry group, so he was lucky to have this exam paper.

Even Cheng An couldn’t see this paper at this time, so he was quite assured.

Lin Xiang had no objections, as long as she didn’t have to write a politics paper, she was willing to write even ten comprehensive science papers!

However, this test paper was a bit more challenging than the previous one, and Lin Xiang took an hour and a half to complete all three papers.

Director Dong had the correct answers, but he still asked the admissions office teachers to grade them.

After receiving Lin Xiang’s final score, Director Dong’s attitude changed completely, gazing at her with bright eyes, "Lin Xiang, what major do you plan to study? Would you consider research in chemistry? As the head of the chemistry department, I sincerely invite you to join us. How about it, want to come to our chemistry department?"

98!

Still, 98 points!

Although it wasn’t perfect, it was consistently one wrong simple multiple-choice question, proving Lin Xiang had the ability to score full marks, but she controlled her score!

Director Dong didn’t understand Lin Xiang’s maneuver. Clearly, she could score full marks, why insist on 98?

But encountering such a talented student, Director Dong naturally wasn’t willing to let go.

Lin Xiang’s anxious heart completely settled.

Director Dong asking like this proved she could receive Huaqing University’s admission notice.

Then, with a smile, she politely declined Director Dong.

"Director Dong, compared to chemistry, I actually want to apply for the foreign languages department."

"Foreign Languages?" Director Dong’s brows twisted into a rope.

Huaqing University also had a foreign languages department, but ordinarily, not many apply, mostly those who didn’t score enough in their chosen majors and were transferred there.

With such excellent science scores, if she focused on research, Hua Country would surely gain a few more talents in the field.

Why couldn’t she think straight and wanted to apply for the foreign languages department?

This time, even Cheng An, who always maintained a neutral expression, couldn’t help but take a few more glances at Lin Xiang.