Chapter 74 - Red Dragon River, Jiangnan Region
Chapter 74: Red Dragon River, Jiangnan Region
When Meng Chao finished answering the question, he gasped a little.
He checked from the top to bottom three times before he chose to hand over his test paper.
At that moment, there was only one hour left for the written test.
The poor-performing students were still typing away with frowns on their faces when they heard screens sliding down ahead of them and someone walking out.
They could only comfort themselves. ‘He must be someone who’s even worse than me in the tests. He must be in complete despair and have given up completely; otherwise, how could someone actually hand in the test an hour ahead of time when the national college examination is so hard this year?’
Meng Chao walked out of the exam hall and smelled the fragrance from the canteen.
Temporary tents were set up in the field outside. Medical cabins were stuffed full inside them.
The written test which lasted for five hours was incredibly hard. Many of the examinees would grit their teeth to persevere, and when they walked out of the exam area, they would faint.
Hence, the education department prepared a lot of food and a large number of doctors to be on standby. In the mobile medical cabins, the students would be treated with high-energy nutritional fluid and massaged by bioelectricity so that they could recover.
Meng Chao was the first examinee to hand in his test paper, and he gained the privilege of having dozens of masseurs and doctors treating him.
This was part of the reason why he handed in his test paper ahead of time. He did not do it to pretend to be cool. Instead, he wanted to get this treatment, because the practical test was the crucial test.
He slept for a while in the medical cabin before he heard noise around him. The examinees had rushed over with a lot of noise, instantly turning the temporary tents into a market.
Many people plunged headfirst into the medical cabins, while others could not even last until they made it into them. They just fell limply on the floor. Some people failed the tests and lost control over their emotions. They crouched down and started crying.
“Ace Student Chao, did you hear, there’s an ace student in our exam area who is especially good. He handed his test paper an hour ahead of time. Isn’t that a little too insane?” Fatty Jr. brought a group of Ninth High School students over to Meng Chao and spoke in a manner which revealed just how worked up he was about it.
Meng Chao found himself not knowing what to say.
Wang Tao was stunned for a moment before he screeched. “Hey, Ace Student Chao, are you the crazy ace student who handed in his test paper an hour ahead of time?!”
Once he said those words, hundreds of gazes shifted to Meng Chao.
Some examinees were dressed in Construction High’s uniform, and they had seen how strong Meng Chao was during the mental strength test. They lowered their heads and discussed things among themselves.
Other examinees were dressed in Dragon City Great High School or Dragon City Second Great High School’s uniforms. When they saw that Meng Chao was only dressed in Ninth High School’s uniform, they could not help but scoff. How could an ace student come out of Ninth High School? He had to be a poor-performing student who gave up ahead of time.
“Wang Tao, could you be a little quieter? Don’t form the same habit as Feixiong.” Meng Chao felt gloomy.
“I was too excited, and I revealed your true abilities. I became a stumbling block in your path to pretend to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I’m truly sorry!”
Wang Tao apologized seriously, then paused before he said, “Ace Student Chao, since you handed in your test paper so early, you must be confident. Come, let’s compare answers!”
“We’ve already completed our tests. Is there a need to do that? The results will come out soon.”
The national college exams required the students to answer through computers, and the superbrains marked the answers. They used big data to perform analysis and AI to mark the tests. In at most an hour, the results would come out.
“Oh, come on, let’s just compare answers. Even if it’s just an hour, it’s still torture, you know?!”
That’s how examinees were. They wanted to know their test results right away.
Meng Chao could not win against them, so he could only search his brain for a few of the harder questions and said his answers.
Those questions were comprehensive questions that combined maths, physics, chemistry, and biology. Without rich experience in fights, it would be very difficult to answer them from all aspects.
Some people did not manage to answer them at all, and they were fine with it. Others had written a whole lot and thought that they managed to get every single point, but when they heard Meng Chao’s analysis, they realized that their answers were filled with a lot of mistakes. In fact, their answers were completely different from what the person who set the question had in mind. They could not help but pound at their chests in grief.
“Ace Student Chao, you just dealt ten thousand damage to our weak spirits once more! I hate you!” Wang Tao wanted to cry, but found no tears coming out from his eyes.
Meng Chao did not know whether he should laugh or cry. “You’re the ones who wanted the answers. Weren’t you just asking for it?”
“That’s right, we’re just asking for it if we ask for answers from you! Come, next question!”
Everyone wailed, but they continued comparing answers. They simply could not stop.
Some time later, a teacher came out to notify them that the results were out, and they could go to the data terminals on the sides of the tent to check their results.
“I got 756 marks! Awesome!” The speaker was so happy that he jumped three feet into the air.
“I scored 499 marks. For the time being, I’m ranked at the 18,000th place in the city. I wonder if I’ll be able to get into a higher vocational college. I’ll have to work hard during the practical test later,” another person said with worry in his voice.
“I’m currently ranked in the 63,000s. Based on the recruiting standards of the universities last year, I still have hope. Everything will depend on my practical test now!”
Wang Tao swung his fists fiercely. Joy was evident on his face.
The examinees from the other schools were the same. Some of them were happy, and some worried. Some were high in spirits, while some sighed. They formed the complicated melody of those taking the national college examination.
“Ace Student Chao, you…”
The students saw Meng Chao checking the data terminal, but his face showed no expression, and they could not help but be stunned.
“Could it be that Ace Student Chao didn’t manage to score well?” They looked at each other at a loss.
“Wait! I know! Ace Student Chao is pretending to suck again!” Wang Tao was the first to react. “He’s pretending to be expressionless because he’s waiting for us to ask him. Then, he’s going to sigh softly and say, ‘Ah, I didn’t score well. I only managed to rank between the top ten thousand.’ That’s definitely the case! Ace Student Chao, I’ve already seen through you!
“Everyone, don’t be fooled! He wants us to ask him, but we should not! We’ll make him suffer by keeping it in!”
Meng Chao was speechless once more. He shut his mouth tight and engaged in a staring contest with Wang Tao.
They stared at each other for half a minute before Fatty Jr. surrendered. “I lost. This stupid curiosity… Come on, Ace Student Chao, tell us your score and rank, and trample on us as you please!”
“I did pretty good.” Meng Chao smiled. “939 marks. I’m currently ranked at the 1,084th place in the city.”
Silence.
Then, the volcano erupted in the silence.
The students dragged Wang Tao away to beat him up. “You said that you wouldn’t ask, but you just had to! Now, everyone just suffered one hundred thousand damage to their spirits! How are we going to go through our practical test later?!”
“I’m sorry!” Fatty Jr. wept tears of regret. “I really shouldn’t have gone to ask Ace Student Chao! I let all of you down, everyone!”
The students might have caused a ruckus, but they knew that after the results of their written tests were out, they needed to use every second they had to replenish their energy so that they could recover from their fatigue.
When another hour passed, a bell rang, asking them to gather up. Dozens of school buses picked them up to head to the practical test area.
“Ace Student Chao, thank you.”
The practical test areas for universities and higher vocational colleges were different. Many students parted ways there.
One person went up to Meng Chao before entered a bus and said sincerely, “If Chu Feixiong and you hadn’t formed a study group and taught us so many new force execution methods or talked about monster structures to increase our knowledge, my written test results would have increased by thirty marks compared to my mock test.”
“My parents have always wanted me to get into the Spirit Electricity Engineering School. The minimum passing score for it is very high. I originally didn’t have high hopes for it, but now, I’m filled with confidence. It’s all thanks to your help!”
“Me too! Ace Student Chao, once the national college examination is over, we’ll treat you to a meal!”
“From now on, we’ll treat you for all your milk tea and supper!”
“By the way, you’re definitely someone who will get into university and become a superhuman, but even if you soar through the skies, we’re still friends. If you need any help, we’ll definitely help you!”
As Meng Chao looked at his schoolmates’ enthusiasm, he felt a wave of warmth in his heart.
“Don’t worry, regardless of whether we get into university or higher vocational college, we’ll all be fighting for Dragon City. We’ll be comrades for life. There’ll be plenty of areas where we will need each other’s help in the future, so now let’s work hard together and fight for our dreams!”
Meng Chao smiled brilliantly and swung his fist under the sunlight.
The school bus raced south.
It drove down a path with red flags and all sorts of banners Wishing the students victory.
The school bus carried Type One Examinees who were going to take the test for university.
The students from First High School, Second High School, and Construction High School occupied half of the bus.
The students from the three famous schools competed against each other with their gazes and presences, and innocent bystanders would be easily injured because of it.
“We’re going to be going through the practical test later with these monsters… What a pain!”
Wang Tao had a frown on his face. He cast a glance at Meng Chao, who sat beside him. Then, he said gloomily, “Ah, whatever, I shouldn’t be saying this to you. You’re even more of a monster than they are!”
Meng Chao smiled faintly and closed his eyes to rest.
Soon, the school bus trembled. It slowed down, and the sounds of raging current could be heard from outside the window.
They arrived at the Red Dragon River.
If they looked into the distance, they could see fog and rain hanging before a mountain range.There was a winding river with a raging current right before them. It divided Dragon City into the south and north.
On the other side of the river were countless factories and army camps. More than one thousand armored airships moved about the rainbow-colored clouds and fog. They were prepared for war and gave off a murderous aura.
It was the legendary Jiangnan Region!
On Earth, the Red Dragon River was one of the longest rivers and had one of the highest amounts of water flowing through it.
The Red Dragon River was one of the oldest origins of civilization in the country from which Dragon City came.
With the rich gifts from nature, two huge cities with a dense population and flourishing industries had been built on the banks of the Red Dragon River. There was one city on each side of the banks.
The two cities went through several generations of competitions and turned into important military and industrial bases.
As generations passed and the people made developments, the scale of the cities continued expanding. More people were connected by the natural moat, and more bridges and underground tunnels appeared. The two cities merged into one, which created a large metropolis that housed millions of people.
When Dragon City transmigrated from Earth, they were in an age of reformation that spread like a storm.
The lords of the old gradually turned weaker and fell into decline. New powers rose to prominence, and the orders of the new and old fought against each other. There was a high possibility that war would erupt, and all sorts of sudden dangers popped up which intensified the conflicts.
To handle the wars, the country where Dragon City was situated went through a large scale mobilization and performed a lot of constructions inland.
Multiple light and heavy industrial cities as well as high technology production centers located at the coasts faced the threat of being attacked by enemies and were all moved inland.
Dragon City was positioned at the center of the country, so transportation within it was very easy.
Besides, the population was dense, and food was plentiful. The foundations of their light and heavy industries were pretty good too. So it was only par for the course that they turned into the main city that welcomed the migration of the industrial factories and technology production factories.