Tap tap tap…
The sound of tapping, neither light nor heavy, made Yu Zhi feel annoyed and uncomfortable.
She looked up and was confronted with a strange and serious face, which clearly showed dissatisfaction to her.
Yu Zhi wrinkled her eyebrows as she felt pain in her abdomen. She could not help but whimper and her face turned pale. Sweat slid down her fair and delicate cheeks, which indicated that she was suffering.
Jiang Zhengrong was stunned for a moment. She thought that Yu Zhi was sleeping, but was actually sick.
She bent down slightly and whispered, “Student, are you sick? Can you hold on? If not, I will have someone take you to the hospital.”
Student?
Yu Zhi immediately looked at Jiang Zhengrong again to confirm if she was talking to her or someone else.
Jiang Zhengrong was puzzled by Yu Zhi’s stunned expression so she asked again, “Student, do you need to go to the hospital?”
Yu Zhi’s pupils contracted and her voice was slightly hoarse, with tension and uncertainty. She asked, “What time is it now?”
Jiang Zhengrong raised her hand and glanced at her watch. It was a watch made in Shanghai and this brand was very distinctive and was one of the earlier brands in this era.
Yu Zhi’s gaze fell on the watch and she was confused.
Jiang Zhengrong replied, “It’s been half an hour since the exam started. Can you still take it? If not, don’t force yourself and take it next year instead. The college entrance exam has resumed and will definitely continue. Don’t worry about not taking it this year.”
The college entrance examination resumed?
Hearing these words, Yu Zhi’s body began to tremble. The college entrance examination was resumed in 1977 and she resolutely took the exam to get rid of her nightmare-like life.
During the exam, she experienced unbearable abdominal pain and ended up failing the exam.
Her best friend told her that her mother-in-law and husband didn’t want her to pass the exam. Afraid that she would leave and abandon her husband and children, so they intentionally made her eat something bad.
Yu Zhi firmly believed it. No matter how her mother-in-law and husband explained it, she didn’t listen. She even cursed them and vented her frustrations in exchange for a divorce certificate.
Yu Zhi was relieved to get her freedom and happily embarked on the road back to the city.
As for the Yu family, her father went missing ten years ago and the search was unsuccessful. He was declared dead and was also charged with treason. Her mother left in a hurry to search for her husband. So, she was forced to go to the countryside.
When she returned ten years later, her uncle and cousin took her in and cared for her meticulously. Yu Zhi was grateful and trusted them wholeheartedly in return.
However, she didn’t expect that they were actually wolves who would eat her and drink her blood.
For her future’s sake, her uncle sold her to a perverted old man as a lover.
Yu Zhi tried her best to injure the perverted man and with the help of kind-hearted people, she finally managed to escape.
But her misfortune did not come alone because after she escaped, she encountered human traffickers who locked her up in a small dark room for three days and three nights, without food and drink, not even a beam of light. She called out for help every day but got no response, and she almost died.
The human traffickers originally intended to sell her into the mountains and make her a common wife for several men.
Unexpectedly, after a blood test, her heart was found to be a match for a wealthy person, so she was sold into a black clinic.
On the operating table, Yu Zhi was trembling with fear and despair. She thought it was a hell on earth and no one would know once she died.
But unexpectedly, her ex-husband, whom she had hated and resented for ten years, came to rescue her from the extensive fire.
As a result, she was unscathed but her ex-husband was burned beyond recognition.
Yu Zhi couldn’t tell if her emotions were pain or hatred. Her ex-husband was clearly just an uneducated gangster, a cruel and vicious bully, and she was just his boring pastime. She was the object of his masculine dignity that had been challenged and provoked.
So why would he risk his life to save her?
***Original translation is from enchantesstranslations.com. Please read it on the translator’s website.***
She couldn’t figure out why but suddenly realized that her ex-husband, who had been living with her like a stranger for ten years, had already taken root in her heart. She had developed feelings for the man who tolerated and accommodated her during those ten years.
It was not that she couldn’t see how good he was, she just didn’t want to see it. She was finding various excuses to deny his goodness to herself.
Yu Zhi finally recognized it and wanted to turn back, but no trace of him left.
She guessed he might also hate her, so he left without saying goodbye.
She had no face to go back and find him again, and the hatred in her heart did not allow her to just let it go. Her future life was destined to revolve around this hatred. She didn’t want to burden the man and the family members she had hurt anymore.
To seek revenge, Yu Zhi forgot about her family and love. She devoted herself to collecting evidence of her uncle’s crimes, who had already stood in a high position and was beyond her reach.
However, she was ultimately foolish after all. Despite planning for a long time, she still fell short and died at the hands of her cousin.
Before she died, the cousin, who was always gentle and kind in front of her, told her with a hideous face that if it weren’t for her ex-husband’s protection, she would have become an unknown skeleton in the remote countryside and wouldn’t have returned to the Yu family alive.
If only she had lived a peaceful life as a peasant woman under the protection of the rough man in the countryside, she would have lived longer.
But she was so stupid and believed in the provocation of her so-called best friend. She could not see the reality clearly which harmed herself and her family.
Her cousin’s words made her feel like she had just awakened from a dream. Looking back on the past, she realized that she was really stupid and bad.
With regret and unwillingness, she closed her eyes.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself inside the college entrance examination room.
The pain in her abdomen indicated that she was not dreaming.
Jiang Zhengrong saw Yu Zhi’s face turn pale again and her whole body shivered as if she was seriously ill. She got up and was about to go outside to call someone.
Yu Zhi quickly regained her senses.
No, I can’t repeat the same mistake. I must pass this college entrance exam to protect my family and loved ones.
“Teacher, I can—I can take the exam.”
Jiang Zhengrong frowned and looked at Yu Zhi with uncertainty. “Are you sure? But don’t sacrifice your health just for this exam, okay?”
Yu Zhi pursed her red lips. The importance of the exam was not determined by the exam itself, but by what the examinee could gain from it.
What she got in this exam was rebirth which was a huge deal.
“Thank you for your concern, Teacher. I can persevere.”
Jiang Zhengrong didn’t persuade her more. The resumption of the college entrance exam was a platform for countless students to realize their value and strive for progress. She knew this after being a teacher for many years.
She completely understood Yu Zhi’s unwillingness to give up.
“Alright. How about you start now? It’s already been over half an hour, so you need to hurry up. If you can’t hold on anymore, just let me know and I’ll have someone take you to the hospital.”
Yu Zhi smiled and thanked the teacher. She took a deep breath, picked up her pen, and looked at the test paper.
In her previous life, she suffered unbearable abdominal pain. She regarded the college entrance exam as a way out of prison and was also unwilling to give it up. She muddled through the questions and did not know what she had written on the test paper, so she ended up failing it.
Therefore, she was not familiar with this set of exam questions at all.
Facing it again, her mood was different. She even felt that the pain had eased, at least her mind was clear. She could read the questions, think, and answer them properly.
During the two-hour exam on a certain day in December, Yu Zhi was sweating profusely from the pain.
She looked to be delicate and lovely, with fair skin. She was well taken care of by her mother-in-law and husband over the years. So, even if she was living in the countryside, her skin was still delicate and tender.
Because of the pain, she seemed to be more delicate and tender than before due to her sickly appearance.
She started late and had to race against time. She was worried about any mistakes, so she carefully checked her answers once she was done.
Fortunately, during those years after her divorce in her past life, whether it was when she was foolishly deceived by her uncle and cousin, or when her heart was filled with hatred, she never let go of her studies.
The exam questions might be unfamiliar, but they were not very difficult for her.