"Someone's coming out, there's a student coming out!"
"So quickly?! Is he the first to come out?"
"The exam bell hasn't even rung yet, did he hand in his paper early?"
"..."
At this moment, besides the parents waiting to pick up their children, there were several media reporters at the school gate waiting to interview the exam candidates. Seeing Lin Beichen walked over, they swarmed up to him.
"Hello, what's your name?"
"Do you know you're the first student to walk out of the exam hall? Did you finish early?"
"Excuse me, did you come out early because the exam was too difficult and you gave up?"
"How do you feel after finishing the first exam?"
"..."
Faced with such a scene, Lin Beichen was momentarily stunned. Then, he recalled the interviews with students about the college entrance exam that he had seen before.
He never thought he'd be interviewed someday!
He found this quite novel.
Reflecting on the questions he just heard, he pondered for a moment and said, "Uh, my name is Lin Beichen. Yes, I did finish early. But it wasn't because the questions were difficult and I gave up. Instead, I felt the questions were..."
At this point, Lin Beichen wanted to say the questions were too simple. But after a second thought, he realized that "simple" might just be his personal feeling. So he rephrased, "I'm not sure if it was difficult or easy. Anyway, I felt the process was quite smooth, no hiccups, so I finished quickly."
Reporters: ???
What's he saying? What's this?!
Smooth process, no hiccups...
And he doesn't know if it's difficult or easy?
Is he just bragging?
Even though the reporters had their criticisms, there were no other candidates coming out from the examination hall. Lin Beichen was the only one available for an interview. They didn't want to let him go so they continued asking him all sorts of random questions until the bell rang, and other students started coming out. They finally let Lin Beichen go and moved on to interview others.
Originally, they thought this would be the first and the last time they'd interview Lin Beichen. After all, there are thousands of candidates in an exam hall. It was doubtful they'd even see Lin Beichen again, let alone interview him.
But...
To everyone's surprise,
In the subsequent exams, Lin Beichen was always the first to walk out of the hall!
And always precisely at the earliest allowed time to submit the test papers!
They couldn't avoid seeing him, even if they tried!
"Look, it's him again, Lin Beichen!"
"From the very first Chinese exam to the last English exam, he's been consistently coming out at this time."
"Every time we interview him, he says the process was smooth with no hiccups. But the other candidates find this exam particularly difficult."
"This morning, I even spoke with two well-known top students in the city. They were quite worried about this year's exam, feeling that some questions were intentionally tricky."
"Could Lin Beichen be even better than those top students?"
"Impossible, if that were the case, he'd be famous in the city by now."
"It's hard to outright dismiss a student. Lin Beichen might be strong in some subjects, but it's unlikely he's that good in every subject, finishing every exam early."
"Apart from Lin Beichen, I haven't heard of anyone completing the papers so quickly."
"Could it be, I mean is it possible, that he doesn't really understand the difficulty level of the questions? Basically, he's a poor student, he can't do the hard questions, can't do the easy ones either. Isn't that why he found it smooth?"
"..."
The reporters whispered among themselves.
After several interviews, they had remembered Lin Beichen's name.
No way they couldn't remember, his impression was too deep!
Besides always being the first to walk out, the most memorable part was his consistent evaluation of every paper—
Smooth process, no hiccups!
At this moment, Lin Beichen walked out of the exam hall.
He had a slight frown, his eyes were wandering, looking preoccupied. He appeared completely detached from the crowd outside, heading straight into the crowd.
The reporters didn't intend to interview him again. After all, the answers were always the same. Why give him another chance to show off?
But seeing his current state...
They felt there might be a different answer this time. Besides, this was the last exam of the college entrance exam. It was the final chance for an interview. So they looked at each other and still surrounded him.
"Lin, your expression doesn't seem as bright as in the previous exams. Did the English test trouble you?"
"Was the English exam difficult, Lin?"
"This being the last exam of the college entrance exam, how do you feel after finishing?"
"Lin, you're about to have an almost three-month-long vacation. Do you have any plans?"
"..."
Lin Beichen: ?!
Lin Beichen didn't even realize when he got surrounded by the reporters. It wasn't his first interview. He regained his senses and responded naturally, "The English exam didn't trouble me. It felt the same as the previous exams."
A reporter immediately asked, "Then why do you look so preoccupied, Lin?"
Lin Beichen's worried face showed a hint of a smile, with a touch of helplessness. He sighed, "It has nothing to do with the exam. Maybe it's because I've lost interest in studying and don't know what to focus on next. I'm quite lost. This long vacation after the exam is just right for me to find something else to study."
Lin Beichen was being honest.
He had already been thinking about what to do next while quickly finishing the English paper.
Studying had become completely unchallenging for him. There was no difficulty at all, and he found it dull. He couldn't find that sense of constant challenge and eventual self-improvement.
To the reporters, Lin Beichen's answer confirmed their discussions earlier.
He looked so unhappy.
And lost interest in studying.
Wasn't this just a sign that he had bombed the tests?
...
Watching Lin Beichen walk away, a lot of dark clouds were gathering in the sky, blocking most of the sunlight. What should have been a golden sunset looked rather gloomy. Under the dark clouds, his figure appeared lonely and desolate.
The reporters didn't pursue him for another interview.
They thought, he must be just a student who failed and is putting on a brave face. How miserable he must be! It would be too inhumane to bother him further!