The grading for the high school PE entrance exam differed depending on region. Dai Li had figured that his students could get 2 points for each repetition in for their first 6 pull-ups. That would mean 12 points in total, which was the passing grade. From the seventh pull-up on, it was only one point per repetition. This meant that if an examinee wanted a full-score of 20 points, then he or she had to do 14 pull-ups consecutively. This grading system made it very difficult for examinees to get a full score in the activity of pull-ups.
Speaking of its difficulty, doing 14 pull-ups consecutively was a lot more difficult than doing 6 pull-ups. Examinees needed to improve drastically to make the jump from 6 repetitions to 14. However, no matter how much you improved, the reward was only an additional 8 points. Even great students wouldn't chase the limit of 14 repetitions. They were satisfied with 16 or 17 points, which only required 10 or more pull-ups. Most students just wanted to pass the exam.
Professor Zhang and Professor Wang had been here for more than a few hours as proctors and had only seen very few students complete all 14 pull-ups. 10 pull-ups were already impressive, though, since many of the students couldn't even pass the exam. Examinees who were as fat as Xiaoming Huang were obviously expected to fail the exam in the eyes of the proctors. 4 pull-ups would have been considered good for someone like him. However, he had done ten more than that. Of course, it shocked the two proctors that he had gotten a full score.
It was true that Shouliang Zhao, a professional coach, was better than the other middle school PE teachers. He definitely deserved the title of "professional coach" considering the fact that he had dared to promise to help Xiaoming Huang do 6 pull-ups while the other two proctors had assumed Xiaoming could only do 4. Blame it on bad luck that he had met someone like Dai Li, who had a system to help him. If he had competed with other normal middle school teachers, he could definitely have won the game.
…
During the examination held in the affiliated middle school of a normal university, the standing long jump test was underway. "Big Mac" Congcong Wu was already in front of the bunker.
"Children nowadays are eating too much! Look at him. How could he grow as big as that? How much meat did he eat to build his body? His parents should definitely be held responsible for his obesity. It's bad for his health!"
While the proctors were still criticizing his parents to themselves, Congcong Wu had already swung his arms to get ready for his jump.
"I'm afraid it will be too difficult for him to get a passing grade since he would have to jump more than 1.85 meters! Considering how fat he is, I can only wish him good luck! I'm guessing he will jump 1.80 or 1.70 meters. Could it be 1.60 meters? That's the minimum standard. If he scores any lower than that, he will get a 0."
The proctor looked at Congcong Wu with worry. He was full of sympathy for him, worrying that Congcong Wu couldn't even reach the minimum standard of 1.60 meters, getting zero points.
Congcong Wu dug into the ground with the balls of his feet and pushed off, jumping into the air.
"Well his movement was pretty standard," the proctor thought. Congcong Wu's flexibility surprised the proctor, considering his size.
Congcong Wu bent his knees, drew in his stomach, and stretched out his calves to balance and land in the bunker.
There was a visible measuring line adjacent to the bunker with a scale from the lowest score, 1.60 meters, to the highest score, which was 2.50 meters. The measuring line stopped at 2.50 meters because that was the highest.
Congcong Wu's heels were past the line of 2.50 meters.
"He jumped over 2.50 meters—he got a full score!" The proctor's face was full of shock and his eyes were wide open. He'd never expected that a "Big Mac" who weighed more than 90 kilograms could jump over 2.50 meters.
In the scoring criteria of Yuzhou City's high school PE entrance exam, the full score for the boys standing long jump was exactly 2.50 meters. In fact, it was very difficult for a middle school student who was in his third year to jump over 2.50 meters. The average score of students his age was 2.20 meters. It was unbelievably difficult to improve after 2.35 meters. Most students could never jump over 2.40 meters without professional training.
2.35 meters was worth 17 points, 2.40 meters was worth 18 points, and 2.45 meters was worth 19 points. Most students could get 16 points to 18 points in the standing long jump. Those who could get 20 points were students with excellent physical gifts and sports abilities. It was an impossible task for people like Congcong Wu to get a full score, yet he had done it!
After 10 minutes, Congcong Wu showed up to the examination field of the 1000m race.
…
At the destination, a few proctors were sitting in the shade. A middle-aged man in his 40s with a thermos was pouring tea for them.
"Professor Huang, have some tea. And Professor Sun, look, your tea leaves are out of color. Let me pour you another one! Professor Cai, let me fill your cup..."
The middle-aged man who was pouring tea was PE teacher Chuanfu Liao from the affiliated middle school of the normal university.
Since all the proctors had to be sent from other cities, the teachers from the city weren't able to oversee the exam. However, they were not doing nothing. They were responsible for logistics, like taking care of the proctors' meals, drinks, rest, and so on. It needed to be done by the teachers from each school. That was why Chuanfu Liao had showed up to the examination field with an attentive hospitality, pouring tea for the other proctors.
He had his own motivation for being so hospitable, too. He hoped these proctors would give a free pass to the students. The higher the students' scores were, the better it would his teaching ability look. He could also get a promotion out of it and a more impressive title.
Calculating the time of the 1000m race depended on the stopwatch in the proctors' hands. When you calculated manually, there were always slight differences. If the proctors stopped the stopwatch 1 or 2 seconds earlier, the results of the students would be better. These kind of differences were permitted. For example, if the proctor showed some sympathy and pressed the button 1 second earlier, a student's time could change from 3 mins, 42 secs to 3 mins, 40 secs, 50. Because proctors always left out the number after seconds, the final result would be 3 mins, 40 secs, meaning the student would get 1 more point.
There was no chance of anything like this happening when it came to pull-ups and the standing long jump. So, Chuanfu Liao had decided to stay in the area where the 1000m race was taking place and act as a waiter. He made sure to pour tea and fill their cups, and even brought some snacks and fruits during their break time, just in hopes that the proctors would show some sympathy to the students.
Of course, it was clear to everyone what Chuanfu Liao's behavior meant. The leader of the proctors said politely, "Professor Liao, stop serving us and have a rest! You haven't had a drink of water the entire afternoon."
"I'm not tired at all, Head Hu. My job today is to provide the best service to all of the teachers!" Chuanfu Liao smiled and said.
"Professor Liao is really hard-working. I can tell from the results of the examinees that he must have some teaching skills." Head Hu continued, "Look at this group. 3 students got full scores out of 12 people! That's a big deal!"
"3 full scores?" A smile emerged from Chuanfu Liao's face.
To get a full score in the 1000m race, you had to reach the finish line before 3 mins, 40 secs, which was much greater than the abilities of most of the students. Even for adults, the passing grade was 4 mins. Given the fact that middle school students were not fully grown, finishing the 1000m race in 3 mins, 40 secs was a very big accomplishment. Normally there was only one student who could get a full score on a team. However, there were three on this team. It was incredible for sure.
Chuanfu Liao couldn't help but look for the students' results on the laptop. Head Hu didn't even try to cover it, letting him see the results. There was no need to hide the scores of the students from their own teacher.
"The 3 students who got full scores are Man Song, Dahai Chen, and Congcong Wu! Congcong Wu? Could it be the student from the 3rd class who was the fattest in the whole school? No way he was able to get a full score! There must be something wrong!"