Chapter 13

After the college entrance exam, students would estimate their scores by referring to the standard answers to roughly gauge their own scores.

This estimation is generally more accurate for science subjects, but slightly less so for humanities subjects. For science students like Li Mu, the biggest deviation in estimation is in Chinese, followed by English.

There are no standard answers for the reading comprehension and essay sections in Chinese, making it difficult to estimate accurately. However, most of the English test consists of multiple-choice questions, making the estimation relatively easier. The deviation usually occurs in the essay section, but since the essay is worth 25 points, the deviation is not too significant.

Li Mu didn't need to estimate his scores for Chinese, Math, and the Science Comprehensive Exam. He couldn't remember how he answered those questions, but he clearly knew that he scored a total of 486 points in those three subjects. So, he spent the whole morning ignoring the explanations from other teachers, waiting for the final English score estimation.

At 11 o'clock, the English teacher walked in and quickly went through the correct answers with the class.

Li Mu hadn't forgotten any of the questions or choices he had answered during the English exam, so he began to carefully check the answers in his mind as soon as the teacher started announcing them.

The more he checked, the more excited he became.

All the listening questions were correct!

All the multiple-choice questions were correct!

All the cloze tests, reading comprehensions, and sentence corrections were correct!

This meant that, excluding the essay, Li Mu had already scored 125 points in English! This perfect score even surprised Li Mu himself.

He had been cautiously optimistic, estimating that he would score between 120 and 130 points, but now it looked like he could score at least 140 points in English!

His essay, which included the slogan "One World, One Dream" from the future, should at least score 15 points out of 25!

In his excitement, Li Mu did a simple calculation.

486 + 140 = 626 points.

What does 626 points mean? Based on the admission lines of the past few years in Southern Jiang Province, 626 points would definitely secure a place in a key university. Any university's admission line could be met, but this score might still be a bit low for top-tier universities like Yan University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, and Renmin University.

However, Li Mu had a crucial piece of information in his mind. In his original class, due to the students' poor performance in English, the admission line was the lowest in history. Additionally, students were cautious when filling out their preferences, so the number of applicants for top universities was also the lowest in history.

Li Mu wasn't sure about the situation at Yan University and Tsinghua University this year, but in his previous life, he had a special interest in Renmin University because he knew that Su Yingxue had always hoped to attend it.

This year, the admission line for Renmin University in the province for science students was 615 points, and due to the cautious approach of the applicants, anyone who scored above the line would definitely be admitted.

Since he could score at least 626 points, applying to Renmin University was a sure thing. Moreover, since his heart was inclined towards universities in Yanjing, he decided to apply to Renmin University. Su Yingxue had attended the Economics College at Renmin University, majoring in Economics, which was one of the most popular majors. Li Mu's score might not be enough to secure a place in a popular major, but as long as he agreed to be placed in any major, Renmin University would definitely admit him.

For Li Mu, who had a mind full of shocking golden fingers, the choice of major was the least important. Even if he had to study philosophy, he wouldn't mind.

Having made up his mind, Li Mu decided to apply for Economics at Renmin University as his first choice. He might even get lucky and end up in the same department as Su Yingxue. His second choices were Finance, International Law, and Social Psychology, and he would agree to be placed in any major.

The whole class thought that Li Mu's plan to apply to Renmin University was just a joke, but no one knew that he had already made his decision the moment the English score estimation ended.

After the score estimation, the students had several days to consider their preferences. They began to whisper and ask each other about their choices.

The class monitor, Lu Gengyu, walked to the podium and loudly said, "Classmates, since we need to submit our preferences to the school next Monday afternoon, let's have a class gathering on Monday evening as our farewell dinner. What do you think?"

A group of high school students who had never left Haizhou to live elsewhere had never had a class gathering before. However, many students immediately agreed enthusiastically, thinking about how they would soon go their separate ways.

In fact, the sentiment of parting had started two months ago. Everyone had bought various class albums and asked other students to write blessings, but Li Mu, having been reborn, hadn't caught up with this.

The tension of the college entrance exam had temporarily made the fifty-plus students forget the impending farewell, but the monitor's mention of a "farewell dinner" instantly opened the floodgates of their emotions.

Some girls were already hugging their friends and crying silently, and the boys, thinking about their impending separation, also had red eyes. Only Li Mu, who had experienced many farewells in his thirties, didn't feel the high school graduation sentiment as strongly.

On the contrary, he was already eagerly looking forward to his upcoming university life, because for him, only in Yanjing could he truly start to realize his ambitions.

At this moment, the class monitor proposed that each student contribute 50 yuan for a meal and karaoke, with any excess refunded. Everyone agreed, and the monitor began to collect the names of those willing to attend. By the time he reached Li Mu, about forty out of the fifty-odd students had already signed up.

Li Mu took the list, saw that Su Yingxue had also signed her name, and immediately signed his own.

After that, Li Mu hurriedly left the school with his preference form. Since his parents were at work, he didn't go home. Instead, he went to a phone booth at the school gate and made two calls to the Xiling Coal Mine's switchboard, one to the finance department where his mother worked and the other to the surveying team where his father worked.

On the phone, Li Mu calmly told his parents about his score estimation.

Between 626 and 630 points, Li Mu wasn't sure if he had scored full marks on the English essay, so he was slightly cautious. Objectively speaking, his theoretical maximum score was 636, and the chance wasn't negligible, depending on whether the teacher marking the essay had a forward-thinking mindset.

However, even this cautious estimation shocked his parents. Li Mu had never scored over 600 points in multiple mock exams, and this score was something they had never dared to dream of.

Both parents repeatedly asked if he was joking. When Li Mu said he was 90% sure, his mother was overjoyed and cried, while his father, after a long silence, only said, "Come home for dinner tonight, and we'll have a drink."

Li Mu hadn't initially realized how shocking this score was, but feeling his parents' excitement, he was also deeply moved.

If he really got into Renmin University, it would not only change his life but also bring his parents years of joy.

In the next four years, no matter what they were doing, just thinking about their son studying at one of the top five universities in China would make them smile.

After paying the phone bill, Li Mu walked out of the phone booth and bought a bottle of iced cola from a cold drink stand at the gate.

The scorching midday sun made it hard to open one's eyes, but a sip of the cold cola was refreshing. In high school, buying a bottle of iced drink and spending an afternoon in an air-conditioned internet cafe with ten yuan in his pocket was probably the happiest thing he could do.

Li Mu smiled and shook his head. The current him was far beyond being satisfied with cola and internet cafes.

Many students had already started to leave, but Li Mu stood still at the school gate, carefully observing the surroundings.

Everything around was still so familiar—the stationery store called Chen Guang, the small restaurant called San Yuan, and the small music school that only produced noise every day. Everything was the same as in his previous life, but he himself had already started to change the course of his life. The university issue was settled! For the next two months, his remaining task was to earn money!

Earning money, the Stone Age Overlord!

Li Mu was suddenly jolted out of his reverie and ran off.

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