Restarting your life starts with filling out your college application.

Chapter 26 College Entrance Examination Score Inquiry

After saying that, without waiting for He Fei's response, she waved to Chen Zhiyuan and then almost ran away, disappearing around the corner in the blink of an eye.

He Fei looked in the direction her sister had gone, shook her head and smiled helplessly, explaining to Chen Zhiyuan, "That's just my sister's personality, don't mind her."

Chen Zhiyuan smiled slightly: "I think she's quite cute. Sometimes, being cheerful and outgoing isn't a bad thing."

Hearing this, He Fei felt a strange ripple in her heart: Chen Zhiyuan... does he prefer girls with cheerful and lively personalities? Am I too quiet, not his type...?

The moment the thought crossed He Fei's mind, a blush crept onto her cheeks.

She quickly told herself in her mind: He Fei, what are you thinking? You and Chen Zhiyuan are just ordinary friends. Besides, doesn't he have someone he likes? It's Zhao Sisi...

Chen Zhiyuan didn't notice the subtle change in He Fei's expression. As he walked, he naturally started a conversation: "He Fei, summer vacation has been going on for over ten days now. What are your plans for this summer vacation?"

He Fei thought for a moment and replied softly, "I don't have any specific plans... I mainly want to help my mom with her stall, try to earn more money, and raise enough for my tuition."

She paused, then asked, "Chen Zhiyuan, what about you?"

"My plan is simple," Chen Zhiyuan said, "to work hard on writing books, and then get my driver's license while I'm at it."

He Fei was slightly surprised.

In 1999, it wasn't as common for students to learn to drive during summer vacation as it would be twenty years later.

Surprised, she said, "Your plan... is quite bold. There are over fifty people in our class, and you're probably the first one to have this idea."

The two walked and chatted, the atmosphere relaxed and natural.

At some point, the distance between them as they walked side by side gradually shortened from about two meters to less than half a meter.

A gentle summer breeze blows by, carrying the faint chirping of cicadas and the fragrance of grass and trees.

As they walked, He Fei suddenly asked softly, "Chen Zhiyuan, why...didn't you go look for Zhao Sisi?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted it—she didn't know why she had suddenly asked that question.

Chen Zhiyuan was quite frank, speaking in a cheerful tone: "Why bother looking for her? I'd rather stay home and practice my writing."

He Fei was slightly taken aback.

Throughout her senior year of high school, although she buried herself in her studies, she also knew how much Chen Zhiyuan had liked Zhao Sisi.

What's going on? Something seems wrong.

Noticing the surprise in He Fei's eyes, Chen Zhiyuan said frankly, "There's nothing surprising about it. She's nobody to me. She's her, and I'm me. From now on, we'll keep to ourselves. I don't want to have any more contact with her."

Upon hearing this, the quick-witted He Fei immediately understood—the two must have completely broken up and severed ties.

For some inexplicable reason, a subtle, almost imperceptible, surprise quietly spread through her heart.

As if she had shed some invisible burden, she seemed lighter and more lively, and she became more talkative without even realizing it.

The two continued walking side by side, chatting casually.

The atmosphere was relaxed and pleasant, and the distance between them seemed to have closed a little bit without them even realizing it.

On the tree-lined path, their shadows were elongated by the afternoon sun, occasionally overlapping each other.

The two stopped when they reached the post office.

"Well... I'll head back now," He Fei said softly, her cheeks glowing gently in the sunlight.

"Okay, be careful on your way." Chen Zhiyuan nodded, watched her turn and leave, and then stepped into the post office.

He carefully wrapped the thick manuscript, which contained more than 50,000 words, filled in the address, and solemnly mailed it to the newspaper.

As Chen Zhiyuan stepped out of the post office, the summer sun was still shining brightly. He thought to himself: soon, another five thousand yuan in royalties would be in his account.

Yes, it's time to officially start planning to learn to drive.

Two days after the manuscript was sent out, another payment of 5,000 yuan was deposited into the account on time.

Looking at the increasing numbers on his bankbook, Chen Zhiyuan felt a sense of satisfaction.

The first thing he did was to enroll in a driving school.

However, after only two practice sessions, the coach waved him off and "sent" him back.

"You don't need to come," the coach said, his tone a mixture of surprise and helplessness. "Just come directly to take the exam; don't waste your time and gas money here."

For a seasoned driver with over twenty years of driving experience, this result was entirely expected.

It's better to familiarize yourself with the operating habits and testing rules of cars from this era before taking the test, as this will save you a lot of time.

The second thing he was really thinking about was buying a laptop.

But in 1999, even in a prefecture-level city like Wuhe, there were only a handful of places selling computers, far from the large-scale computer malls that would later emerge.

At that time, the brands on the market were mainly divided into three categories: expensive international brands, slightly cheaper Taiwanese brands, and even cheaper mainland Chinese brands.

Computers were ridiculously expensive, often costing tens of thousands of yuan, and were known as "ten-thousand-yuan machines," making them an absolute luxury for ordinary families.

Faced with such an outrageous price, Chen Zhiyuan decisively backed down—forget it, he'd better just stick to writing by hand for now and treat it as practice.

Time flies, and it's already July 28th.

This day marked the start of the college entrance examination score inquiry period.

After finishing breakfast, the family gathered around the telephone in the living room before eight o'clock.

Chen Jianjun was even more restless, glancing down at his watch again and again, appearing even more nervous than his son who was about to check his scores.

Chen Zhiyuan felt a little nervous, but not much.

If the course of history hadn't changed, his college entrance exam score would have been 538.

His only worry was that if his "reborn butterfly" flapped its wings and caused a change in his score, that would be troublesome.

After all, if something as absurd as rebirth has happened, it seems "reasonable" for the college entrance examination score to deviate a bit.

In those days, the internet was just starting out, and 99% of families didn't have computers. Inquiries by phone were the main way to check scores.

Finally, the hands of the wall clock steadily pointed to eight o'clock.

"I can check now!" Chen Jianguo eagerly grabbed the phone receiver, his fingers turning slightly white from the pressure. He carefully dialed the number one by one, referring to his admission ticket.

only……

"Beep...beep...beep...Sorry, the user you dialed is busy, please try again later..."

He couldn't get through on the phone. Unconvinced, he hung up and dialed again twice, but the result was the same – only a monotonous busy tone.

Watching from the side, Zhang Hui couldn't help but tense up, her voice strained: "How could this happen, Lao Chen, did you dial the wrong number?"