The Sweetness of the Seventies
Chapter 234 - 233: Rank First (1480+) _1

Chapter 234: Chapter 233: Rank First (1480+) _1

Qi Xiaoyan was grateful for He Tiantian’s heartfelt attention.

"Come on, let’s talk about your life in the unit after you get into the performance troupe," He Tiantian said, avoiding any mention of tomorrow’s exam.

After thinking for a while, Qi Xiaoyan replied, "Then I can become an honored employee, and my parents will be proud of me."

To He Tiantian’s surprise, Qi Xiaoyan’s wishes actually contained such simple thoughts!

"Not bad, keep going...," He Tiantian said with a smile.

The two talked until after nine o’clock, and Qi Xiaoyan felt completely relaxed. After yawning, she said, "I’m sleepy, let’s go to sleep."

"Then good night!" He Tiantian said with a smile, secretly wishing Qi Xiaoyan smooth sailing on tomorrow’s exam.

Early the next morning, Niu Dajun bought breakfast. After Qi Xiaoyan had breakfast, she took her exam number as per her registration form and went to her assigned seat.

He Tiantian and Niu Dajun waited outside.

The exam was on the basics of music theory, lasting one and a half hours.

Qi Xiaoyan followed the method He Tiantian had suggested, scanned the exam briefly, and seeing that the questions were all points from their books, she felt somewhat relieved. She began by writing her name, the exam number, and started answering the questions.

The paper followed an easy-to-difficult progression, and Qi Xiaoyan did very well at the beginning. Later, when she encountered a few uncertain questions, she left them blank and first focused on the questions she was confident about, planning to think about the uncertain ones later. After completing the major questions, Qi Xiaoyan went back to tackle the earlier ones she had skipped.

After some deliberation and recollection, she wrote down the answers.

Qi Xiaoyan managed her time and began to check her answers carefully from beginning to end, an hour had already passed, and she had half an hour left. Being a conscientious child, she didn’t dare to hand in her paper early and decided to check her answers one more time.

Niu Dajun paced back and forth anxiously, continuously rubbing his hands together.

"Brother Dajun, why don’t you stop pacing," He Tiantian, rubbing her eyes, said. Ever since the exam had begun, he had been restless, even more anxious than Qi Xiaoyan.

Embarassed, Niu Dajun chuckled and said, "You caught me; I’m a bit nervous!"

"How is being nervous going to help? Can you take the exam for Xiao Yan?" He Tiantian asked. "Just stand still. You have to believe in Xiao Yan. With her hard work and intelligence, she’ll definitely pass."

Niu Dajun smiled and said, "You’re right. Xiao Yan is so smart and diligent; she’s bound to get in."

"Heh, if it were that easy, everyone would pass," the middle-aged woman from yesterday remarked, not directly addressing them, but He Tiantian and Niu Dajun understood that it was intended for them to hear.

He Tiantian glanced at the woman and pretended not to have seen her, saying, "Heh, it’s indeed about real talent!"

Niu Dajun didn’t want to talk to the woman, not wishing to let it affect his mood.

An hour finally passed. Qi Xiaoyan, whose seat was near the front, was among the first to come out.

He Tiantian approached her, not inquiring about the score, and simply said, "Are you hungry? Let’s go eat."

Niu Dajun wanted to ask but didn’t dare.

Then, they overheard a girl named Xiao Xue behind them whining, "It’s so hard, there are so many questions I’m not sure about."

The middle-aged woman was next, offering words of encouragement...

As they walked, Qi Xiaoyan turned and asked, "Why aren’t you guys asking me how I did?"

"Haha, if you’re eager to tell us, it must mean you did well!" He Tiantian laughed. "Right?"

Qi Xiaoyan said excitedly, "Yes, I knew most of the questions, but there were a few I wasn’t sure about. However, I thought about them for a long time, and I’m about seventy to eighty percent confident."

"That’s good, once the exam is over, no need to think about it anymore. Go back and have a good meal, get some good rest," He Tiantian said, "By the way, are the results coming out tonight or tomorrow?"

"The results will be out at five in the afternoon," Qi Xiaoyan replied, "Those who make it onto the ’red list’ can participate in the retest tomorrow. If not, they won’t be eligible for tomorrow’s retest."

Niu Dajun finally relaxed and said, "After eating and sleeping, let’s go check the ’red list’ together in the afternoon."

The three of them agreed and returned to the guesthouse together.

After a nap, it was already past four in the afternoon.

Qi Xiaoyan and He Tiantian, freshly washed, followed Niu Dajun to check the ’red list’, feeling extremely nervous and excited.

Upon arriving at the location where the ’red list’ was displayed, it was already packed with people.

Niu Dajun kept checking his watch and said, "It’s four fifty now, ten more minutes!"

Yang Xiaoxue, along with her mother, came over and saw He Tiantian and her group. She walked past them with her head held high and a haughty air.

Qi Xiaoyan didn’t understand and said, "Sister Tiantian, I’m puzzled. We haven’t offended that mother and daughter, so why do they act like this every time they see us? Is it just because we’re from a smaller town and not from Huai City?"

He Tiantian was also confused and thought hard about it.

Niu Dajun laughed and said, "Hehe, it’s not just for that reason. It’s also because you two are prettier than that girl named Xiaoxue. They’re jealous of you, so naturally, they don’t like the sight of you."

His words made Qi Xiaoyan blush, and she asked quietly, "Are you telling the truth?"

"Of course, I am. If you don’t believe me, ask Tiantian," Niu Dajun confirmed confidently. That girl named Xiaoxue was not bad-looking either, but compared to He Tiantian and Qi Xiaoyan, she was far behind.

She didn’t have the graceful figure of He Tiantian nor the height of Qi Xiaoyan, and her face, though pretty, couldn’t compare to He Tiantian and Qi Xiaoyan.

He Tiantian suddenly realized – it was such a simple reason, why hadn’t she thought of it before!

Finally, it was five o’clock, and two staff members came out with the ’red list’ and pasted it on the wall.

Yang Xiaoxue and her mother managed to squeeze in, exclaiming excitedly, "Xiaoxue, you got in, you got in, the... anyhow, you got in..."

Qi Xiaoyan was a bit anxious and didn’t catch the implication of the middle-aged woman’s words.

He Tiantian picked up on it – Xiaoxue’s name definitely wasn’t near the top of the list, otherwise, her mother would have loudly announced it.

Niu Dajun squeezed in to have a look, but there were too many people ahead, mostly women, so he had to wait for others to finish before he could push forward.

Niu Dajun, being tall, didn’t even need to squeeze in; standing on his tiptoes, he could see the top names on the ’red list’ and said excitedly, "Xiao Yan, you made it, you’re in!"

He Tiantian and Qi Xiaoyan hurried over.

He Tiantian looked intently and said joyfully, "Xiao Yan, you did amazing, you even got the first place!"

Qi Xiaoyan’s face turned red, and she breathed quickly – she had secured the first rank.

Just then, Yang Xiaoxue and her mother passed by He Tiantian, and upon hearing this, the joy on their faces vanished. As they left, they glared at Qi Xiaoyan and He Tiantian.

Qi Xiaoyan and He Tiantian looked at each other – their resentment was baseless!

But that didn’t matter anymore. What mattered was that Qi Xiaoyan had passed the written test and only the retest tomorrow remained.

As long as Qi Xiaoyan performed normally, tomorrow’s exam would surely be no problem.