By the time I returned, a banner had already been put up at the school gate.
It read: "Congratulations to our school's Class 1, Grade 3 student Qiao Ru for becoming the top scorer in the college entrance exam!"
Below, a group of parents and students were looking up at the banner, exclaiming:
"Which student is this? This is too amazing!"
"Qiao Ru, this name sounds familiar. Wasn't he the top scorer in the class before...?"
I squeezed through the crowd wearing a hat, planning to show my admission notice to the teachers.
When I got to the office, all the teachers were there, each of them smiling at me as if they were looking at a panda.
The math teacher kindly poured me a cup of tea and said, "Is it hot? Drink some water!"
I handed over my admission notice, and they marveled at it as they took turns looking at it.
The history teacher took off his glasses and looked at it closely, word by word: "This Tsinghua University admission notice is just different!"
The teacher next to him joked, "Old Li, have you never seen a Tsinghua University admission notice before?"
The history teacher cursed and laughed: "God damn it, I've never seen a Tsinghua University admission notice like this. Qiao Ru, you really are a genius. I'll have to bring my next batch of students to you next year!"
I chuckled and asked, "Teacher, where did Qiu Ting and Jiang Shuhua get admitted to?"
To my surprise, the teachers' faces all changed at the mention of these names.
After a moment, the math teacher sighed and said,
"Qiu Ting is a child with too much competitiveness. She insisted on going to Tsinghua University, so she applied there. We couldn't stop her!
"Ah, her parents didn't even try to persuade her. She has good grades, but she barely made it this time.
"She didn't get admitted, but she was unwilling to give up and insisted on repeating a year. No matter how much we tried to persuade her, she wouldn't listen. How much suffering will she have to endure during the repeat year? And she won't even be a fresh graduate anymore. Ah..."
"Jiang Shuhua... Jiang Shuhua, I forgot. Anyway, he's a 985, and he seems to be doing well."
They quickly brushed the topic aside.
"Hey Qiao Ru, our school is going to have a swearing-in ceremony in a few days. Your experience is too legendary. You have to tell your junior classmates about it and motivate them!"
I was taken aback and smiled as I agreed.
...
Two days later, the playground was already crowded with people.
Perhaps I was too famous, many high school students and their parents came with admiration, and most of the graduates also came to see me, the provincial first prize winner, with their own eyes.
The crowds of people were packed together, there was no such scene at the sports meeting.
I stood on the stage, the principal introduced my resume in detail from beginning to end, even reading out every one of my results starting from the last place.
Grade last 2nd, 236th, 118th, 34th, 2nd...
The rest, all 1st.
This visual experience of rising from the bottom infected everyone present!
Everyone cheered!
I stood above, with a multitude of emotions in my heart.
I almost forgot about the days when I was ranked last.
At one time, I was a negative example, everyone hated and despised me then.
I was just a ordinary person.
I can be timid, I will retreat, I will be afraid, I will regret.
I would cry uncontrollably, and I wound have sleepless nights in nightmares.
But in the end, I have persevered through it all.
Looking back, it all seems like an incredible dream.
In just less than two years, my life has undergone an earth-shattering change.
There are too many people I want to thank, I want to thank my parents, I want to thank Yin Xiucheng, I want to thank the teachers who didn't look down on me.
But the person I most want to thank is myself, for persevering through that dark and lonely period.
After surviving that despairing night, I finally arrived at the dawn of victory.
I picked up my papers and scanned the playground, and I saw Qiu Ting and Jiang Shuhua standing below.
I didn't know why they came, maybe they couldn't accept it.
Across the sea of people, our eyes met briefly, and my gaze quickly moved away.
Qiu Ting is just a small episode in my life.
Perhaps I should thank this episode too, without this period of torment and humiliation, I wouldn't have become so determined to succeed.
But now I no longer care about them.
They are already a thing of the past for me.
The summer sunshine is too dazzling, but no one has left the playground.
I opened my papers and briefly talked about my psychological journey and study methods.
Finally, I looked at the crowded crowd below and said gravely:
"Students, I hope you can understand that learning is not everything, but learning can provide us with the opportunity to choose.
"We don't want to be chosen and follow a path with no other choice for our entire lives, but learning can help us open higher doors.
"Only then," I said, holding the microphone, "do we have the right to choose our own lives."
...
The whole field erupted into loud applause after a moment of silence, and I looked at the distant sky with a relieved smile.