A Lai's expression grew distant and confused.
The invigilators, their eyes fixed on him, radiated contempt.
"What excuse are you trying to think of now? Are you trying to talk your way out of this?"
"Are you doing justice to the hard work your parents put in for you?"
"Do you think this is how you repay the teachers who taught you all these years?"
A Lai felt the judging stares of the other examinees around him. Shame and embarrassment flooded him. He suddenly found it hard to breathe, his heart pounding faster and faster. Overwhelmed, he began placing his exam tools on the desk one by one. Then, in a frantic motion, he stripped off his shirt and jeans, standing there in just his underwear. He turned his pockets inside out, shaking his clothes furiously.
"Are you playing with some kind of high-tech device?"
"Do you think this will solve anything?"
"Doing well or poorly on a test is about ability, but right now, this is about your attitude."
Trembling, A Lai stammered, "I swear, I didn't use a lighter! You can check the surveillance footage! Please!"
The bespectacled invigilator sighed, a mix of pity and frustration in his voice. "Fine, I don't want to argue with you anymore. Wait for the committee's decision. You can leave now; don't disturb the other students."
A Lai dressed quickly but couldn't bring himself to leave the exam room. Instead, he sat down, dazed, his head resting on the desk.
"Ding, ding, ding..."
Finally, the bell signaled the end of the exam.
Only then did A Lai, lost in thought, blend into the crowd of students exiting the room.
Tormented by frustration and despair, A Lai couldn't help but curse his luck. *Why didn't my bioelectricity kick in while the invigilator was reprimanding me?* he thought. *If only my shorts had caught fire, then everyone would have seen the truth! Now, what's done is done. No point in dwelling on it.*
When he saw Grandpa and Fang Fang, A Lai forced a smile, though his heart ached deeply.
After dinner, Fang Fang accompanied A Lai for a walk on the lawn.
A Lai thought about how the static electricity in his body had caused the problem. He remembered Dr. Wang's advice to walk barefoot on the grass, so he started pacing back and forth, his shoes off.
Fang Fang warned him, "If you keep doing that, you'll catch a cold."
Inwardly, A Lai couldn't help but blame her. *Worry, worry, and still something went wrong. Why couldn't you say something encouraging before the exam? Really, what kind of fate do we have?*
He kept his head down, struggling to hold back tears. He knew he was Grandpa's pride and Fang Fang's hope. No matter what, he had to finish the exams.
The next day, A Lai entered the exam room again. He hadn't received any notice from the committee, and the invigilators didn't ask him to leave. Relieved, he calmly completed the test.
Afterward, he continued walking barefoot on the lawn, even standing there during lunch.
Finally, the college entrance exam was over.
Some students tore their textbooks into pieces, throwing them into the air and shouting in celebration, releasing the tension built up over years of studying.
Others, dejected and despondent, were scolded by parents who paced and muttered anxiously, their faces dark with foreboding.
Many students gathered in small groups, aware that they were heading toward different paths. Some would continue their education in universities, others would find work in factories, and still others would venture into society to start their own businesses.
A few of A Lai's close classmates, along with their homeroom teacher, went to a small restaurant to have one last gathering. It was a bittersweet farewell to the time they had spent together.
Fang Fang accompanied A Lai to the gathering.
As A Lai looked at his friends, memories of studying and playing together flashed through his mind. Now, after this brief reunion, they would go their separate ways, unsure of when they would meet again.
Bittersweet emotions welled up within him. With a choked voice, he said, "Thank you all. Let's drink to our time together. Cheers!"
Unexpectedly, Fang Fang started singing Teresa Teng's *When Will You Return?* Her voice carried a sense of melancholy, and soon everyone joined in, humming along:
"... After tonight's farewell, when will we meet again? Finish this cup and have a little snack. Life offers so few chances to be truly drunk, so why wait to enjoy it? Come, come, come..."
As they sang, some began to cry, hugging each other tightly.
Listening to the song, A Lai felt an ominous foreboding. *Sigh,* he thought. *Partings are inevitable in life.*
The exam was over, and life returned to normal.
Everyone anxiously awaited their admission results.
A Lai knew all too well what the loss of an entire subject would mean. How would he explain this to Grandpa and Fang Fang? Who would believe the bizarre story of how fate had mocked him?
Finally, the admission results came in.
With a total score of 750, the breakdown was 150 for each of the core subjects—Chinese, math, and English—and 300 for either science or humanities.
Grandpa brought home the results: The cutoff scores were 534 for the first tier, 477 for the second tier, and 439 for the third tier. A Lai's total score was only 467.
Grandpa stared at A Lai in disbelief. "How is this possible? You got a zero in math? Even if you guessed, you should have gotten some points on the multiple-choice questions!"
A Lai was at a loss for words. He and Grandpa had always relied on each other, and though he sometimes played pranks or told small lies, this was different. He didn't want to leave Grandpa confused; he couldn't keep him in the dark.
Muttering to himself, A Lai said, "I almost wasn't allowed to finish the rest of the exams."
Grandpa asked, "What happened?"
A Lai explained, "It was that lightning strike. Remember when the prescription the doctor gave me burned up instantly after I left the hospital? The same thing happened in the exam room."
Grandpa suddenly understood. "No wonder you've been walking barefoot on the grass ever since. This is exactly what they mean when they say, 'Misfortune may be a blessing in disguise, and blessings may turn into misfortunes.' It seems you've been played by fate."
After a long silence, Grandpa comforted him. "A Lai, you did your best. I don't blame you."
A Lai, struggling to hold back his tears, said, "I'm sorry, Grandpa. I feel even worse for Fang Fang. She spent so much time helping me."
Grandpa reassured him, "Fang Fang is a reasonable girl. Just explain it to her."
"Please, Grandpa, don't explain it to her. I know her temperament. If I over-explain or emphasize the reasons, it'll only make her more upset. She might even think I'm just making excuses because I couldn't solve the problems. Besides, who would believe something like this unless they saw it with their own eyes?"
The news of A Lai's exam results couldn't be kept secret for long.
When Fang Fang found out, she was devastated, nearly driven to madness. All her hopes and efforts had been in vain. A Lai was like a broken reed, unable to support himself despite her best efforts. She had endured so much for nothing, and now this was the outcome.
One day, Fang Fang stormed in with a magazine in hand. "What's this?" A Lai asked.
"An issue of a medical journal," she replied irritably. "That show-off Dr. Wang wrote another article about you."
A Lai flipped through the magazine and read the article titled "Wonders and Mysteries Part Two—Where Did the Scar Go?"
"What a load of nonsense. Just because he doesn't understand something, he jumps to conclusions," Fang Fang fumed.
"You're right, you're right. It was my family's herbal medicine that did the trick. How could he know? You can't blame him for speculating," A Lai said, nodding in agreement.
Fang Fang watched A Lai nodding obediently like a chicken pecking at grain. She sighed, her words cutting like a knife. "A Lai, you should have been named Adou, like the character from *The Romance of the Three Kingdoms*. You should read that part of the story."
A Lai had no response, only managing a bitter smile.
Fang Fang locked eyes with him and made a firm decision. "I'm sorry, but I can't keep wasting my time on you. I've done everything I could. Now I have to choose between you and my mother."