Three-Way Split

The high school entrance examination results were scheduled to be released at the end of the month, so after submitting his application preferences, Fang Changan found himself completely at leisure. He first returned to his hometown for the annual family gathering. The atmosphere, however, was vastly different from previous years, with everyone becoming much more amiable toward one another.

Back when he was dirt poor, Fang Lujun had loved to show off. Now that he had accumulated some family wealth, he had changed a great deal. His speech had grown considerably steadier, and he no longer went around boisterously bragging about things before anyone even asked.

Fang Luyong, who used to have his second brother as a companion, was now left to idle about on his own. Unwilling to remain lonely, he wanted to find something to do, yet he could not figure out a path forward, which left him quite distressed.

Wang Yuxiu earnestly wanted Fang Luyong to join his second brother in making steamed buns and lend a hand, which would net him several hundred yuan a month. It seemed she had mentioned this to Fang Luyong in private, only to be rejected. Consequently, the moment she brought it up publicly, Fang Luyong immediately turned her down again. The couple exchanged a few heated words before being placated by others.

In fact, Cong Rong, Fang Lujun, and even Fang Changan had previously discussed this possibility. Both Cong Rong and Fang Changan had vetoed it. Fang Lujun inherently lacked strict discipline, and Fang Luyong was accustomed to a free and easy lifestyle. If any real problems arose after Fang Luyong joined, Fang Lujun most likely would not say anything. He maintained an amicable attitude even when outsiders made mistakes, and scolding Fang Luyong would make him fearful of being accused of putting on airs or lacking human warmth.

Over time, this would easily ruin the atmosphere and the foundation of the business. Moreover, this was not solely their own shop; Shen Chengyan held the majority stake, and even holding onto these thirty percent shares already felt somewhat lacking in confidence. One of the reasons Fang Lujun went to help out at the shop was precisely so that by contributing his own labor, no one could gossip about his son taking the money.

Right after getting married, Fang Luyong had actually opened a pharmacy in town, but it went under in less than half a year. According to Cong Rong, the couple was a mismatch of one being too calculating and the other too impractical, and neither was willing to compromise, making it rather difficult to run a shop successfully.

Fang Luyong’s own plan was to go out and work as a laborer with his eldest brother-in-law, Tang Xianyu. He casually mentioned this to his eldest sister, Fang Xia, over post-meal chatting. Knowing this younger brother’s temperament, Fang Xia was not entirely thrilled in her heart, but she did not refuse him to his face, only saying she would speak with her husband later.

Dan Peng and Fang Yan continued to run their furniture business. A potential change, however, lay with Fang Luguang. The teachers' union at the No. 1 Municipal High School had long expressed a desire to transfer him over. If it were just him, the matter would naturally be simple; since the school wanted him, Fang Luguang was certainly willing to go.

However, Fang Luguang was already approaching fifty and had a whole family to support. For him to suddenly transfer to the city would affect his entire household. Xu Jing insisted that he make it a firm condition that she be transferred along with him before she would agree to go. Yet the No. 1 Municipal High School looked down upon her teaching proficiency, which was precisely why the matter fell through in his past life.

In this lifetime, perhaps because his second younger brother’s family had suddenly grown quite wealthy, Xu Jing experienced a bit of psychological imbalance. Seeing her husband with an opportunity to advance, her attitude was not as resolute as in her past life. When the school rejected her transfer, she took a step back and demanded a guarantee from the school: Could they assign them an apartment? If none were available right now, resolving it within a year would be acceptable!

The school had not yet given a definitive reply, but it probably wouldn't take much longer. As for the prospects, they were certainly much greater than in her past life!

After all, the faculty benefits at the No. 1 Municipal High School were already quite good, and there were teachers' apartments available. Although housing was tight and it was clearly unrealistic for Fang Luguang to be assigned an apartment the moment he transferred—with so many teachers waiting in line—there was still strong hope if they waited a little longer, as the school genuinely valued Fang Luguang's personal competence.

Following the grand family gathering in his hometown, Fang Changan visited his maternal grandmother’s house the next day. Naturally, he did not forget to frequently check in on Cheng Mengfei. Having recently become pregnant, her temper could sometimes be a bit eccentric. For instance, during one of his visits, she threw a tantrum in the downstairs living room, demanding that the computer be thrown away because radiation would affect the child.

Seeing Fang Changan walk in, she pointed at him and said, "Perfect. Have Changan move the computer back to your house."

When Fang Changan came by again the next day, she laughed and teased, "Oh, here to move the computer?"

Though Fang Changan had never dealt with such erratic moods, after years of getting along, he was not about to let a small matter create a rift between them. He grinned and replied, "Not at all. I came to pick you up to live at my house. Your place has computer radiation, but mine doesn't."

"You're still the sensible and considerate one."

Cheng Mengfei instantly switched back to a smiling face. When she looked at Shen Chengyan, however, her expression changed to an entirely different one: "Look at you. You're not even as thoughtful as a child."

"Right, right. I need to learn and correct myself."

Though Shen Chengyan had the character for "speech" in his name, he was currently left speechless with grievances. He had always doted on this wife, and now that she had become the darling of the entire family, he naturally pampered her even more, to the point where obeying her every whim was no exaggeration.

Suppressing a smile, Fang Changan helped Shen Chengyan change the subject: "Teacher Cheng, have you thought of a name for the baby?"

"I have. I've thought of many for both boys and girls, but I just don't know which one is best. Why don't you help take a look?"

"How could this ever need me?"

"It's fine, it's fine. You know much more than your Uncle Shen."

Fang Changan joined in to brainstorm names for the child, whose gender was still unknown. Naturally, no definitive conclusion came of it, as Shen Chengyan and Cheng Mengfei’s current intention was to follow Shen Mo's naming convention by using a single character.

Fang Changan suggested the character for "steadfast," which was warmly received by Cheng Mengfei because the character also featured the "earth" radical at the bottom, matching well with the character for ink in Shen Mo, and carried a wonderful meaning.

More than half a month passed—neither long nor short. Fang Changan maintained his daily reading habit as usual, occasionally gathering for small meetups with classmates and acquaintances. For instance, Chang Wei had already finished his first year of high school in the county town; his father, Chang Chao, had just been transferred to the county last year to serve as the director of the police station, and presumably pulled some strings to get Chang Wei enrolled in the County No. 1 High School.

Liu Yan, Zhao Xu, and the others naturally lacked such connections. Some went to county schools like the No. 4 High School or Yunshan High School which had lower admission requirements, while others entered the Town No. 1 High School. It could be said that whether in the town or the county, Fang Changan could find someone he knew no matter which high school he went to—except for the No. 1 Municipal High School he was destined to attend.

On the morning of the twenty-sixth, after finishing breakfast, neither Fang Lujun nor Cong Rong went to open their shop. Instead, they kept a close watch by the living room telephone early on. When it finally struck nine, Fang Lujun hurriedly dialed to check the scores.

"Beep... beep..."

The first four or five times resulted in a busy signal, but Fang Lujun persevered, continuing to dial until he finally got through on the sixth try.

After providing the various names and test admission numbers, the operator's sweet voice recited: "Chinese 139 points, mathematics 148 points, English 140 points, physics 90 points, chemistry 57 points, politics 70 points, history 70 points, experimental bonus 15 points, physical education bonus 30 points, total score 759."

Absolute silence filled the living room. Fang Lujun listened, repeated each score aloud, and jotted them down in a notebook. After finishing, he stared blankly at the final total score for a moment, hung up the phone, and looked up at Cong Rong with a smile blooming uncontrollably across his face.

Cong Rong let out a breath and said, "Ah, thank goodness. I can finally completely set my mind at ease."

Fang Lujun asked again, "Getting this score should be no problem for the No. 1 Municipal High School, right? Didn't your eldest brother say 710 would be enough?"

Fang Changan nodded and smiled, "Shouldn't be a problem."

Fang Changming and Fang Yanran looked at each other and curled their lips simultaneously, feeling that having such an eldest brother brought truly immense pressure.

Filled with satisfaction, Fang Lujun looked over the scores in his notebook and picked up the telephone to notify relatives and friends one by one: "Eldest brother, Changan's scores are out. Yep... Chinese 139, mathematics 148..."

"Eldest sister, Changan's high school entrance exam scores are out... Chinese one hundred..."

"Yan'er, Changan's high school entrance exam scores are out... Chinese..."

Then he had Fang Changan call his paternal grandparents and maternal grandparents. Though Cong Rong was also happy, seeing him boast about it everywhere still drew a sigh from her as she went off to open her shop.

After making a round of phone calls, Fang Lujun headed out as well so that others could easily reach him to ask about his son's exam scores.

Fang Changan tried calling Wang Ke, but the line was busy. He had no choice but to call Cheng Mengfei first, and after chatting with her, he tried calling Wang Ke again. The line was still busy.

After waiting a little while, he dialed again, and the call finally went through.

"Hello?"

"Hello?"

"You're quite busy, aren't you?"

"Not really. Classmates kept calling to ask about things, you see."

Wang Ke clearly performed well on the exam, her voice sounding cheerful and sweet. "What's your score?"

Fang Changan smiled. "You tell me first."

"No way, you first."

Fang Changming and Fang Yanran were both watching television nearby. With those two living lightbulbs present, it wasn't convenient to engage in flirtatious banter, so Fang Changan simply reported his score first. When Wang Ke heard that his total score was actually approaching 760, she exclaimed in admiration, " Wow, you're amazing!"

"Naturally. What about you?"

"Um..."

Wang Ke drew out the ending of her syllable in a sweet, coquettish voice, acting slightly spoiled: "Of course I'm not as good as you. Chinese 129, mathematics 137, English 140, physics 83, chemistry 55, politics 66, history 62, plus 45, making a total of 717."

Fang Changan's heart sank slightly. This score was even higher than his own estimate, but based on his own results, he could infer that the graders this time seemed relatively generous with points. If so, it would likely cause an overall upward shift in total scores.

In other words, the admission score thresholds for various schools might also rise accordingly.

Wang Ke's score might not be entirely safe!

However, since the exact score thresholds were not yet known, he naturally couldn't dampen her spirits hastily. Fang Changan smiled and congratulated her, then asked, "Do you know what Shen Mo scored?"

"I just called her. She got 764, which is five points higher than you."

"Oh my, impressive, impressive."

"Right? I think so too."

"Wait, she's the impressive one—what's with that proud tone of yours?"

"None of your business! Anyway, it's higher than yours!"

"You're leaning toward outsiders now, aren't you? Did you know that?"

The remark carried a hint of ambiguity, and Wang Ke on the other end must have felt shy, as she softly said, "If nothing else is the matter, I'm hanging up now."

Worried that her household phone might be tied up, Fang Changan said, "Alright, let's chat again later."

"Mm."

Hanging up the phone, Fang Changan called Fang Dianqiu, who scored 582—putting her admission to Town No. 1 High School completely without a doubt.

The remainder of the time was spent mostly with classmates calling each other to inquire about scores, and Fang Changan successively learned the results of many people.

Liang Jingyu scored 704, Li Xiaoyi 687, Mao Shanshan 718, Zhang Jing 671, Li Dongfeng 552, Zhou Yifei 570... To his surprise, Liu Bei actually scored 721, ranking second only to him among all the classmates whose scores Fang Changan learned that day.

In the afternoon, Fang Changan received a call from Shen Chengyan, informing him that the No. 1 Municipal High School had announced this year's admission score threshold for applicants outside the urban district: 714.

Wang Ke had surpassed it by three points.