After leaving the temple and returning to the courtyard house, A'lai was in his room exploring the features of his new phone. When his grandfather saw this, he was very surprised and immediately demanded to know where the phone came from. A'lai had no choice but to tell the truth and vividly recounted the events.
Grandpa's anger turned into joy, and he teased, "A'lai has a little sister now, congratulations! Make sure to bring her home to visit sometime. A'lai is a handsome young man, loved by everyone."
A'lai playfully replied, "Well, I guess this is fate."
Grandpa chuckled and said, "Look at you, so pleased with yourself. Let's celebrate with some drinks tonight."
For several days, Grandpa noticed A'lai's cheerful demeanor and couldn't help but smile to himself.
One morning, Grandpa hurried back home not long after arriving at school. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he called out for A'lai, pulling an envelope out of his pocket with his hands trembling.
A'lai walked out of the house and, seeing the situation, was puzzled. "What's going on? What could have happened to make you so excited at your age?"
He took the envelope and opened it.
It was a notification letter from Nancheng University. Excited, he realized that this was the same prestigious university where Hanhan had been accepted.
The letter invited A'lai to the university for a retake of the math exam.
A'lai took the letter, ran three circles clockwise around the osmanthus tree, then three circles counterclockwise, and finally said, "Set!" before chanting, "Open sesame."
Seeing A'lai's antics, Grandpa couldn't stop laughing. He instinctively felt that A'lai had encountered a benefactor who was secretly helping him, and it seemed that the "recommended student" spot was within reach.
In a hurry, he said, "Quick, get ready, we're leaving right away."
...
They arrived at Nancheng University.
A'lai handed the notification letter to the security guard at the gate.
The guard immediately made a phone call.
Not long after, an elderly professor with rimless glasses approached A'lai.
A'lai was shocked, "Oh my gosh! It's him!"
It turned out that the person welcoming A'lai and his grandfather was the same proctor from A'lai's college entrance exam.
The professor glanced at A'lai and calmly said, "Follow me."
After settling Grandpa in the lounge with a cup of tea, the professor took A'lai to a conference room.
A'lai looked around.
The spacious, brightly lit conference room was empty except for the elderly professor and three other proctors sitting across from him, each with a cup of tea in front of them.
One of the proctors said, "Lei Tianlai, don't be nervous. Just treat this like you're doing homework. We're giving you an opportunity, and you're giving yourself one as well. As long as you complete the exam within the allotted time, we'll consider everything."
A'lai thought to himself, "Four proctors, all watching me like hawks? How could I not be nervous?"
The proctor handed A'lai a math exam paper along with a pencil case.
"Alright, A'lai, the exam has officially begun, and the timer is running."
This unique, unusual retake began.
A'lai didn't pick up his pen immediately; he sat there as if in a dream.
The proctor furrowed his brow and reminded him, "Lei Tianlai, five minutes have already passed."
A'lai snapped out of it, remembering the temple abbot's words: "Everything has its destiny; just go with the flow." He nodded, took a deep breath, and quickly skimmed through the entire exam paper.
At that moment, he entered a state of complete focus, fully immersing himself in solving the problems.
...
Before long, he completed the exam in one go, then calmly reviewed it twice from start to finish. He raised his hand and said to the proctors, "Teacher, I'm done with the main questions."
The proctor glanced at the time and said, "Tianlai, you still have 25 minutes left. There's plenty of time. Don't you want to review it again?"
A'lai replied, "Thank you, teacher. I've already reviewed it twice. I would like to move on to the additional questions now."
"Alright, you may start with the additional questions," the proctor said before resuming his tea.
A'lai looked at the 40-point question. To him, 30 points were almost guaranteed, with the remaining 10 points divided between slightly difficult and more challenging parts.
Feeling completely at ease this time, he recalled the abbot's words: "Everything has its destiny; just go with the flow." He worked through the problems effortlessly.
A'lai raised his hand again, "Teacher, I've finished."
The proctor said, "Good, Tianlai. Please put down your exam paper and leave."
A'lai returned to the lounge and found his grandfather.
Grandpa immediately asked, "How do you feel?"
A'lai smiled slightly, put his hands together, and teased, "Amitabha, fate is at work."
"Alright, alright, I won't ask anymore. Let's just go with the flow."
After a while, one of the proctors entered with some food.
Grandpa hurriedly asked, "Has the exam been graded?"
The proctor smiled, "Why don't you eat first? You'll get the results soon."
With just one exam paper, why was it taking so long? Had something gone wrong with A'lai's answers again?
Grandpa began to worry, starting to think that maybe A'lai hadn't done well.
Trying to comfort A'lai, he forced a smile and said, "The food here really tastes good. Once we're done eating, we can head back to our beautiful little mountain village."
A'lai understood what his grandfather meant, smiled knowingly, and ate heartily. Soon, the food was gone, devoured by the two of them.
Seeing some grains of rice on Grandpa's face, A'lai quickly wiped them away with his sleeve, then poured some hot water for his grandfather, leaning on his shoulder.
Just then, the elderly professor approached, watching this heartwarming scene.
The professor said, "Old man, it's no easy feat for you to come all this way to support your grandson."
"Hello," Grandpa quickly stood up and greeted him.
"Please, sit down."
The professor continued, "Actually, I'm here to support your grandson too."
A'lai and Grandpa looked at the professor in confusion.
The professor introduced himself, "I'm the honorary dean of this university. My name is Li Decheng, and I personally came to proctor this exam."
He then slowly explained, "In fact, the real monitoring was done through four surveillance cameras. Every move you made was transmitted to the school leadership's office, and the entire recording will be attached to your admission file. We have the authority to independently recruit students with special talents."
Grandpa smiled and said, "Thank you. If A'lai didn't perform well, we'll go back and work harder, and try again next year."
Professor Li, sensing Grandpa's concern, reassured him, "The math exam had a total of 150 points, plus 40 additional points. The score has been calculated, and Lei Tianlai scored 190 points."
Before either of them could react, he continued, "I've added another 10 points for moral character. So, Lei Tianlai's final score for this exam is 200 points."
Both of them widened their eyes, unable to believe their ears.
Professor Li further explained, "This time, we didn't lower the difficulty level; instead, we made the final question slightly harder to ensure the quality of our students."
Grandpa grasped Professor Li's hand, "So you're saying that A'lai has been accepted by your school?"
Professor Li smiled, "Tianlai's case is quite special. This isn't just my decision. The school leadership will hold a meeting to discuss it. If he's admitted, you'll soon receive an official admission letter. For now, just wait at home."
Grandpa, full of excitement, repeatedly thanked him.
Professor Li added, "Don't worry. The school will handle this with special consideration, and we also offer tuition waivers for students from low-income families, so even children from poor families can afford to go to school."
"Even if Tianlai isn't admitted, with his score, he'd be highly sought after by any school. And if he retakes the exam next year, I'm sure he'd have no problem getting into a prestigious university like ours. It's just a pity that he'd lose a year."
Relieved, A'lai and his grandfather left the school and walked through the city streets.
Grandpa thought to himself, A'lai's success in this retake is undoubtedly due to Fangfang's dedicated tutoring.
Now that A'lai has a phone, communication is much easier.
It's important to be grateful. No matter what, we should let Fangfang know the good news.
Suddenly, Grandpa suggested that A'lai accompany him to Li Xiujin's house to ask for Fangfang's phone number.
A'lai had long lost any affection for Li Xiujin; he was not only disheartened but also deeply disgusted. But seeing how happy his grandfather was today, he couldn't bring himself to refuse, so he reluctantly agreed to go along with his grandfather's wishes...