Global Examination

Chapter 14

Guess Who I Am

Chapter 14: Crossroad

Humans are very resilient creatures.

The next day, everyone had adapted to their life living in the examinee’s rest stop.

Although it was not a town, when compared to the hunter’s cabin, it was much better.

There was food to eat, they could sleep at ease, they wouldn’t die by going out and there weren’t any chickens chasing after you reminding you to submit your answers.

Opposite the rest stop was a house that was three storeys high. It hung heavy plastic curtains that had turned yellow with age and is no longer transparent. Only a faint circle of incandescent light could be seen emanating from within.

There was a wooden sign displayed outside. The word “Warehouse” was written.

“What’s a warehouse?” The twin girls asked in unison.

Old Yu was very patient with children. He explained: “It’s like a grocery store. It sells everything. You haven’t seen it before?”

Not only the girls, many others also shook their heads. They said: “Where we come from, we don’t call it that.”

“Is that so?” Old Yu muttered.

He was rather crafty so when he followed everyone in, he immediately tried to chat with the owner. After exchanging a few words, he found out that the owner was from the same town.

The owner of the warehouse was surnamed Zhao. He was a very unfriendly fellow townsman.

“Big brother. I’ll call you big brother now.” Old Yu said this passionately.

The owner Zhao Ding was at most fourty years old and is definitely younger than Old Yu. He had a strong build and a straight back, yet he shamelessly acknowledged this “big brother” nickname. Holding his cigarette, he said monotonously: “Up to you.”

Old Yu said: “Big brother, you must have been away from home for many years. My accent isn’t strong but yours is even more so. If not for seeing the word “Warehouse”, I wouldn’t have noticed.”

Smoke constantly poured out from Zhao’s mouth: “I guess.”

“You’ve always had a shop here?”

Zhao: “Yeah.”

Old Yu let out an “oh” and tentatively asked: “Looking at brother’s posture, were you a soldier before? Why did you come here to open a shop?”

Zhao finally glanced at him from amidst the smoke. He said a long sentence: I haven’t but seeing your posture, were you really once a soldier? How did you become fat like this?”

Old Yu: “...........”

Zhao inhaled the cigarette a few times and extinguished it after only the butt was left: “Don’t try to act close. It’s not going to work here. You may be acting all touched today but you might be dead tomorrow.”

Old Yu: “..........”

“If you’re going to buy something, hurry up and do it. If not, leave.” Zhao said this and pulled out a new cigarette.

·

The first floor of the warehouse was covered in smoke. The sick patient Zhou Jin went in and left immediately with a coughing fit. But he didn’t give up the opportunity to shop.

Because there were more things in this store than he had imagined.

It looked more like a comprehensive supermarket with a shabby external appearance. There were clothes, blankets, pillows, pots, pans, cups, spoons, chopsticks, medications and anything you would want to find in a supermarket. Things that you don’t find in a supermarket were also here. From the first to the third floor, it was completely filled.

Every floor had several shopping carts which were coated in a layer of dust.

They all pushed a cart each and started to sweep through the goods like crazy. It was as if ghosts had just entered the village.

“Wait, none of these things are priced!” Yu Wen suddenly cried out.

Zhou Jin picked up a few bottles of cough syrup and also a box of anti-inflammatory pain medications: “I’ve noticed that a long time ago. Cough, cough...........This is probably like those at tourist attractions. The price must have been doubled.”

“Taking advantage of us while we’re on the brink of death and ripping us off. It’s expected.” Everyone agreed.

Everyone knew this truth, but no one stopped their actions.

When money could be exchanged for their life, they don’t feel bad about spending it.

Yu Wen still felt that something wasn’t right. He pushed his cart around to find his brother and found You Huo standing in the corner of the third floor.

What surprised him was that You Huo was also purchasing goods.

“Brother, you’re also pushing a cart?” Yu Wen went over and asked.

You Huo heard this and glanced at him. His expression seemed to be saying ‘What nonsense are you spouting?’.@@@@

Yu Wen awkwardly waved his hand and said: “It’s nothing. I was just looking.....”

If even his brother is buying something, then it should be okay.

Yu Wen felt relieved and started to flip through You Huo’s shopping cart.

He had originally thought that he would see a bunch of emergency equipment such as flashlights, batteries, ropes, knifes........

But all this great master got was a change of clothes and a black backpack.

That was it.

“Uh.....Brother, are you getting anything else?” Yu Wen asked.

You Huo flipped through the hangers and took out a black down jacket. He threw it into the cart: “Just these.”

Yu Wen suddenly felt that he, with the light sticks, flashlights, batteries and the such........, was like an idiot attending a concert.

These houses still remained standing amongst the snow and fog but, with none of their lights on, they looked like houses that had been abandoned for many years.

“This really isn’t a haunted house?” Yu Wen shuddered.

You Huo recalled the invigilators’ words.

He had asked if this was a supernatural event, but the invigilator’s response was no. The other party had wanted to something else at that time but, before he was able to speak, he had received a warning.

So........

What exactly is this?

You Huo mulled over this inside. When the next exam starts, he will find a chance to trick the invigilator into spilling the truth.

Hopefully the invigilator this time is one that is honest and easy to fool.

·

200 metres wasn’t very far.

Everyone very quickly arrived at the place mentioned by Chu Yue.

It was indeed a crossroad. A solitary pavilion sat in the middle of the intersections and a figure was slumped against it.

That person saw them and struggled to stand up.

When they got closer, they saw that it was the tattooed man who didn’t want to stay at the rest stop.

But, compared to his appearance at that time, he was now covered in blood and his left arm hung lifelessly beside him. One of his legs was also broken.

“How did you become like this?”

Although they didn’t like him very much, no one wanted him to die or become disabled. Afterall, he was originally just a stranger and they held no grudges against him.

The tattooed man said with a hoarse voice: “It’s good enough not becoming crazy.”

“How long have you been here?” Everyone looked at the pavilion.

The tattooed man said: “Two days.”

“Why didn’t you go to the examinee rest stop?”

The tattooed man revealed an embarrassed expression which also held a hint of anger: “If I go back, I’ll be her grandson. Also.......I couldn’t find the way back after I left. All I could find was this.”

“Then why didn’t you continue on?” Yu Wen asked.

The tattooed man swept his eyes across and pointed at the roads: “Look at those signs yourself.”

With his reminder, everyone now noticed that there was a sign erected at each of the four roads.

Under normal circumstances, those signs would say xx road or xx street.

But this wasn’t the case here.

The four signs each said respectively:

Chinese

Foreign Language

Math

History

Inside the pavilion, a small horn suddenly sounded and the familiar voice that was heard from the radio once again appeared here.

【This round of exam is designed to be 3+1+1.2 Congratulations on successfully completing one of them, there are currently four other exams pending.】

【Examinees have the right to choose and can complete them in any order.】

【Please make your choice within 30 seconds.】

【Latecomers will have their examination opportunity stripped.】

Everyone: “..........”

At a crossroad like this, they would rather remain in place until they died.

The dog Yu Wen grabbed You Huo and said: “Brother, I’ll choose whatever you choose!”

The others all looked over at him.

What they didn’t expect was for You Huo to look around and say expressionlessly: “There’s a choice? From my perspective, all of the signs are saying Foreign Language.”

Yu Wen: “Huh???”

What was even more frustrating was, in You Huo’s eyes, he could see a figure standing at the end of every intersection.

That figure was tall. Standing under an umbrella in the snow, that person appeared to be waiting for him.

You Huo coldly sneered. His face was green with anger.

1. Wechat, Alipay etc are online payment platforms. Usually all they need to do is to scan a code with their phone and pay with money from their online accounts. It has become a very popular method of payment now and has replaced cash and cards to a certain extent in major cities in China.

2. 3+1+1 refers to the separate exams the university exam is made up of. In total, there are five exams that they must do. The 3 refers to the core subjects that all students must take (Chinese, Math and Foreign Language*). The 1 refers to elective subjects that students can choose. It can include subjects like History, Chemistry, Biology..... etc. etc.

*Foreign Language is usually English (like 99.9999% of the time)

KK has something to say:

Looks like the next exam is Foreign Language!