Chapter 702: Celebratory feast!
Translator: Legge Editor:
Monday.
Everyone from the Beijing college entrance examination's question setting team felt that the sense of burden had been lifted from them.
"Finally, everything is settled!"
"Phew, it hasn't been easy!"
"It's finally over!"
"We can finally rest for the next few days. I'm going to sleep well tomorrow!"
"This year's question setting work was too difficult. I wouldn't want to come back to next year's question setting team. It's been so tiring that I haven't slept soundly for the past week now."
"Anyway, our work is done here and we can finally relax."
"Yes, we only have to wait for the college entrance exam to finish."
"We're free at last!"
Today was the day of the deadline. Every question setting team had already submitted their tasks' requirements. The main, supplementary, and some backup questions which were not selected were all sorted and submitted to the higher-ups by the supervisors. At this point, this year's Beijing exams were basically confirmed with the remaining task of selecting the questions and some detailed adjustments left to the Higher Education Entrance Examination Board. The Higher Education Entrance Examination Board and the higher-ups would decide which of the questions were suitable for use and which were not. Essentially, the remaining work would no longer involve the question setting teachers as their jobs were already completed. From this point forward, the time remaining would count as their off days. Until the college entrance exam was over, they would not be allowed to return home.
On the hill.
Zhang Ye and Su Na were taking a morning jog.
Su Na was dressed in her sports attire with a towel hanging off her shoulder. She was already sweating all over while Zhang Ye was in a better condition, not feeling tired yet. After running for a while already, he was still not short on breath yet.
"I can't take it, I can't take it anymore. I have to walk from here." Su Na stopped and was unable to run anymore. "Teacher Zhang, you've got really good stamina."
Zhang Ye also slowed down his pace. "I'm doing worse than before. In the past, I'd always trained and gone for my morning exercise regularly. But now I can't do that since I'm always cooped up at work. I can only run a few laps to relax when I've used too much of my brain at work." His stamina was not exactly good either, but at least it was still better than Su Na who did not train frequently. After all, Zhang Ye was armed with some martial arts although it was still at a level where it only worked randomly and at given times.
Su Na smiled as she wiped her sweat away and asked, "How've you been doing recently?"
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "It's been the usual stuff. I'm just doing TV shows which is my original profession."
Su Na said in amusement, "What original profession? I'm not even certain what your original profession is anymore. Math, literature, music, radio, television, which profession haven't you dabbled in? So which one of those is your original profession? If you didn't mention it, I would already have forgotten what your real profession is. Besides, you're amazing no matter which field you go into. You always manage to shine and thrive!"
Zhang Ye bragged, "Heh, I may not have any strong points but I'm really good at adapting."
Su Na said, "I seriously never expected you to be approached by the college entrance exam team this time. I suppose there are many people who also weren't prepared for it. If this is the signal the education system is sending out, then does that mean you're likely to return to Peking University this year? They can't keep you suspended for too long. There are still many Peking University students asking about you, hur hur. Not to mention the other examples, but just on Peking University's official forum alone, the students have made known their intentions more than once, hoping that you will resume your duties again."
"Is that so?" Zhang Ye was very pleased. "So the students still remember me?"
Su Na suddenly changed her tone. "However, there are still some students boycotting you."
Zhang Ye was baffled. "Hah?"
Su Na blinked and laughed. "You didn't know about that, right? When I got up this morning, I met some people sent by the Higher Education Entrance Examination Board. One of them was a university classmate of mine. During breakfast, I learned from him during our chat that you have already became a public enemy on the Internet. Do you know which group is boycotting you this time? It's this year's Beijing examinees and their parents. They're all calling for the Higher Education Entrance Examination Board to dismiss and send you home. On any forum and on Weibo posts related to the topic of the college entrance exam in Beijing, there's even an operation called 'Send Zhang Ye Home' going on. According to my sources, not only are there beautiful women lining up to take a shower in your house, there is also plenty of cash in your bedroom and an ancient tomb of the Tang Dynasty was even discovered in it. All these things were said just to make you go home quickly to take a look. After I heard that from my classmate, I nearly died laughing! Your house is the subject of all verbal attacks online now!
Zhang Ye nearly fainted when he heard about the situation in the outside world. "What the hell is going on? Why are they boycotting me? Has this bro become a specialist in being boycotted that something like this would happen every few days?"
Su Na said, "Who asked you to present those wondrous elementary math problems in the past? The examinees are afraid that you will make the questions too difficult, so they started this movement and are totally enjoying themselves. Everyone from the examinees to their parents, and even your own fans, are happily and tirelessly smearing your name, haha."
Zhang Ye became even more speechless, but then boasted without shame, "After this bro entered the entertainment industry, I've always walked the path of a male idol, but why is it now becoming more and more like the path of a comedian?"
Su Na: "…"
The two of them chatted casually as they walked to the halfway point on the hillside.
The moment they reached the entrance to the dorms, they bumped into Dean Pan.
"Teacher Zhang, Little Su, both of you went for a jog?" Pan Yang waved at them.
Su Na said, "Yes, Dean Pan. Have you eaten yet?"
Pan Yang smiled and said, "Not yet, I'm saving my appetite for this afternoon. Oh right, the both of you should get ready as well, so quickly shower and get changed. There will be a celebratory feast at the hilltop at 11 AM. Everyone will gather to eat. Tentatively, it'll be an outdoor barbecue as the weather is quite nice today. It's cloudy and not too warm."
Su Na asked, "Is it organized by the Higher Education Entrance Examination Board?"
Pan Yang said, "No, it's our teachers who are organizing it. We do the same thing every year. It's already considered a standard event here. There will be a list of whatever ingredients need to be purchased and some staff from the Higher Education Entrance Examination Board will head out to buy them for us. If you need anything, you can let them know and give them a list."
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Sure."
Su Na said, "I feel like drinking some iced soda water right now."
"That will definitely be included." Dean Pan said, "There are also some programs like singing or dancing. Whoever wants to participate can get ready beforehand. Don't be late."
Su Na said, "We will definitely be on time!"
……
It was not even 9 AM yet, but some people were already at the top of the hill. However, Zhang Ye was not in a hurry as it was still quite early at the moment. After he had showered and changed into casual wear, he headed to Building 1. Without any Internet connection or his cell phone, the only free time activity left was reading. There was a library which had many books that covered many subjects such as literature, history, social science, and many other extracurricular books as well. The book collection in the library was not only limited to the scope of the college entrance exam.
There was no one inside as all their work had already been completed. Everyone had left and no one was borrowing any books or researching for information inside the library anymore.
He closed the door, turned on the air conditioning, and sat down. Without choosing a specific type of book, he took a random one and read through it. Well, to be accurate, the word "read" was not a good description for it. He was like a machine flipping through the pages at a very fast speed. He would only take one second to glance at a page, capture all the words on it, and then move on to the next page. This reading speed would have left anyone stunned.
Catalog of Song Dynasty Famous Figures.
Algebraic Geometry Exercises.
The History of Music.
Weiqi for Beginners.
Portuguese for Dummies (Part 1).
And so on. It had everything you could name.
The books he read were not determined by his interests but rather just whatever he was able to get his hands on. It was totally random and unrestricted.
After flipping through about 20 books, Zhang Ye stopped. He then quietly opened the game ring to take a look at the huge amount of Reputation Points which The Voice had given him with its previous two episodes. After that, he immediately tapped into the Merchant Shop and spent 10 million Reputation Points to purchase 100 Memory Search Capsules all at once. After consuming a capsule, his mind quickly recalled the contents from the first book he flipped through, storing all the knowledge into his mind, book by book.
Previously, Zhang Ye had always used the Memory Search Capsules to recall the knowledge from his previous world. But now he knew that this was no longer enough. For example, this incident of him not knowing when the college entrance exam was held had sounded an alarm for Zhang Ye. He was still too unfamiliar with this new world. After all, the two worlds were not the same. There were many differences like when the college entrance exam was held, the contents of the textbooks, as well as many other aspects. If he still based his behavior on the knowledge and train of thought from his previous world, he would definitely have problems with a lot of situations. That was the reason why Zhang Ye had planned on finding time to gain a deeper understanding of this world.
Other than these slight differences between the two worlds, most other things were essentially the same. Actually, the knowledge Zhang Ye did not have a chance to learn in his previous world could totally be learned in this world. There was no way that he could read the books from his previous world or return to it anymore, but this world also had those books. Zhang Ye quickly went through all the related books or video resources and used the Memory Search Capsules to memorize them, achieving a crazy fast learning speed. It was still many days from the start of the college entrance exam. He could not go anywhere other than stay within the boundaries of the private location in the hills. With such plentiful time, it was apparent that this was the most suitable time to do this. Time should not be wasted. There were still plenty of things to learn about.
One book…
Three books…
Five books…
In the blink of an eye, Zhang Ye had already etched the contents of five books deep inside his mind. He even could recite them backwards comfortably as all the information was easily retrievable.
Of course, a huge amount of Memory Search Capsule was needed for this and had to be supported by an enormous amount of Reputation Points. Thankfully Zhang Ye's new show contributed even more Reputation Points that allowed him to use them constantly. Zhang Ye did not feel pained after spending tens of millions of Reputation Points as they would be useless if left untouched. It was a different case for gaining knowledge. After comparison there was nothing to feel heartbroken about. Furthermore, The Voice has only aired for two episodes. After the later episodes were broadcast, there would be even more Reputation Points coming in so he could stand this round of huge spending. That was why the most important thing for Zhang Ye now was to enrich himself and arm himself. Knowledge was power and also a bridge connected to his goal of becoming an A-list celebrity. What he was doing now was setting a foundation to prepare himself to reach higher heights!
Six books…
Ten books…
Looking at his watch, he realized that it was almost time. Only then did Zhang Ye leisurely stroll toward the hilltop to join the celebratory feast that everyone had organized. He was ready to pig out.