Global Examination

Chapter 15

Happy New Year everyone!

Guess Who I Am

Chapter 15: Foreign Language

You Huo: “Yu Wen.”

“Huh?” Suddenly being called, Yu Wen responded immediately: “What’s wrong?”

You Huo: “Do you see someone at the end of the roads?”

Yu Wen looked around blankly: “Someone? Who?”

You Huo’s eyes looked into the distance: “For example, a particularly clingy invigilator.”

Yu Wen: “...........Don’t say something so scary!”

They haven’t even selected their subject yet so why would an invigilator be here??

The others heard You Huo’s words and also looked around. Apart from the signs at the four ends, it was completely empty.

“Forget it. It’s nothing.” You Huo said, “I only see Foreign Language from my end, so I don’t have any other options. You sure you’re coming with me?”

Yu Wen said: “Actually, Foreign Language is my weakness.”

You Huo glanced at him.

Yu Wen then said: “But after thinking about it, it seems like all of them are my weaknesses.”

You Huo: “..........”

Yu Wen placed his hands together and worshipped his great master: “Brother, I’ll go whereever you go! I’ll do whatever you want me to so please bless me and help me pass. I wish you longevity.”

You Huo: “.........”

The group of people all looked at him eagerly.

You Huo snorted and pulled the zipper of his jacket all the way up to cover his chin and lips before muttering lazily: “Troublesome.”

“Brother, what did you say?” Yu Wen didn’t hear clearly and moved closer.

You Huo’s face was almost as cold as a block of ice: “I said, which direction is Foreign Language for you?”

Everyone pointed to the left.

You Huo lifted his feet and walked over.

Inside the pavilion, the small horn once again sounded.

【A friendly reminder that there are only 5 seconds left until selection time is over.】

Everyone was startled. They quickly started to run over.

The road labelled “Foreign Language” was no different from the other three roads and was covered in dense fog. No one knew what was waiting behind the fog.....

【4 seconds】

【3 seconds】

【2 seconds】

【1 second】

【Self-selection is over.】

As the countdown reached zero, the last of their group managed to step into the dense fog.

·

Qin Jiu wore a long black coat and he had a dove-grey cashmere scarf around his neck. With one hand in his coat pocket, he used his other hand to hold a black umbrella as he waited calmly for the others to arrive.

You Huo’s tall figure passed through the dense fog.

His face was cold and his expression lazy. A black backpack hung loosely from his right shoulder.

Despite clearly being quite far away, Qin Jiu could still see everything in detail. The other party’s light brown eyes always looked like it was covered by a layer of clear glass. Together with the earring on one side, it emitted a cold light.

Qin Jiu lifted the umbrella slightly and white snow slid off it while following its curves.

Seeing You Huo come closer, he politely moved his hand and brought You Huo under the umbrella. He dragged out his tone and said: “What a coincidence, we meet again. Did Mr. Humph sleep well the past few days?”

You Huo: “..........”

Despite clearly knowing his name, he still addressing him using a dumb nickname. Is there something wrong with him?

He stared at Qin Jiu for a few seconds and said coldly: “Deprivation of choice means that you’re going to be everywhere?”

Qin Jiu squinted his eyes and smiled: “That’s not exactly the case. The so-called deprivation of choice means that the examinee – that is, you – would lose their right to choose their text examination subject. As for the subject that you will do, it will depend on the main invigilator – that is, me – and the exam that I’ll be invigilating. Understand?”

You Huo: “..........”

That tone of his sounded like he was explaining to a little kid.

It was an obvious case of deliberate provocation. You Huo who heard this was irritated and his expression was completely cold.

Qin Jiu saw his expression and smiled even more deeply: “As for the subject the invigilator supervises, in general we can choose but I’m a little lazy, so I always select it randomly. This time I randomly got Foreign Languages. However, it seems from your expression that you’re not happy with it. Next time——–”

You Huo interrupted him with a bad expression: “There’s still a fucking next time?”

Qin Jiu: “It’s hard to say. After all, you have an extensive criminal record.”

You Huo: “.........”

Old Yu: “No. In the last exam, everyone was the same. It was our first time.”

Chen Bin: “Oh, that makes sense then. I just happened to meet a brother with experience, and he said that the total scores for each exam will be slightly different but with the five subjects added up, it would be exactly 100 points. If that’s the case, it would be fine getting a total score just over 60.”

“60.......” Old Yu counted with his fingers with a sullen expression.

Chen Bin was even more sullen: “I only got 10 points from two subjects. What am I going to do for the remaining three?!”

Liang Yuanhao’s expression was stiff. He walked away a little irritably.

Chen Bin explained to the others: “He’s actually not a bad person. It’s just that the total scores from three exams was too abysmal and he’s a little anxious.....”

Afterall, this was something that involved life and death. It wasn’t unusual having a bad temper.

The others expressed their understanding.

Yu Wen pointed to Mike in reassurance: “Don’t worry! Look, we have a secret weapon here! This exam is Foreign Languages and we have a foreigner Mike here!”

Chen Bin said tactfully: “We saw. We noticed it the moment we arrived. But I just noticed that this friend here doesn’t seem to be able to speak Chinese? It would be no different to conversing with a duck.......”

Yu Wen then pointed at You Huo: “Don’t worry, my brother stayed abroad for a while so he can do it too. But.......he doesn’t like talking much.”

Chen Bin suddenly came back to life: “That’s okay. It’s good enough to be able to understand!”

Even Liang Yuanhao appeared to have become a little livelier.

Mike and You Huo were like calming pills. In an instant, the team relaxed.

·

“So........Where are we going now?” The people who were chatting finally started to face the current situation at hand.

You Huo expressionlessly pointed to the left.

The others only now noticed the bus stop sign standing about three metres away.

It was a very simple sign that was supported by a metal pole.

Fortunately, the words on it were Chinese. It read “Intercity Bus” and below it was the English translation.

As for where this bus was going and where it would be passing, it was a complete mystery. There was no information about this.

Just as everyone was confused, a loud horn was heard coming through the snow.

A car drove out of the thick fog and it shuddered to a stop at the bus sign.

The car was covered in a thick layer of dust. It was so thick, it was difficult making out it’s original colour. The wheels of it were covered in mud. It would be too generous calling it a “bus”. It was more like one of those minivans from the 1990s that shook heavily as it drove.

This car?

Foreign Language exam?

Everyone felt weird and confused.

Even the invigilator Qin Jiu’s expression wasn’t very good.

Seeing that 001 was unhappy, You Huo was relieved. He carried his backpack and got onto the car first.

The inside wasn’t very worn, and the seats were quite neat and tidy.

You Huo sat down in the seat by the window in the last row.

Seeing Qin Jiu also getting on, he pulled out his phone, fiddled with it and then proceeded to plug white earphones into his ears. He leaned against the window and got ready to sleep.

The driver was a dark middle-aged man. He didn’t speak the entire time and they didn’t know whether or not he was a mute.

When he saw that they were all on board, he stepped onto the accelerator and set off.

·

When You Huo was just about to fall asleep, there was an announcement inside the car.

【It is currently 6:30am Beijing Time.】

【There are still thirty minutes until the exam officially starts. Please read the exam rules below.】

The familiar examination rules were repeated one by one.

With the life-saving cheats Mike and You Huo present, everyone’s mood was rather stable. They didn’t tremble as terribly as they did the first time.

【If rule violations are made during the exam, you will be kicked out from the examination centre.】

【The other examination rules are as per the standard.】

Like it was teasing them, the announcement stopped for a moment. When it allowed the listeners digest this information, it slowly spat out the rest of its words.

【Because of special circumstances, the exam details will be revealed in advance.】

【Examination time: 10 days.】

【Subject examined: Foreign Language.】

【Foreign language being examined: Gypsy*.】

【I wish you all the best.】

Everyone: “.............”

I beg your pardon???

[Important!] KK’s Translator Notes:

* “Gypsy” was the literal translation from the raws but please bear in mind that it is a slur and should not be used on a normal basis. Although I decided to keep it in my translation for accuracy purposes, both myself and the author did not have any intention to offend anyone. In this novel, the author was purely referring to the stereotypes gypsies are typically associated with. I’m sure she didn’t know about its history and negative connotations when she wrote this. (I also had no idea >< – Thank you Anon for pointing it out!)